Life is constantly shifting and changing at a faster pace than we realise. Look back over the last year and you’ll see the huge number of differences compared to where you are now, as well as the people who have fallen by the wayside in terms of your social circle.
These friendship connection disappearances could be purposely, e.g. you didn’t want them in your life anymore, or they could be accidental, e.g. you simply lost touch due to relocation, busy lives, or a misunderstanding. The thing is, the people we reconnect with in the past have the power to change our future, if we reach out and try and mend old wounds and severed ties.
We change as our situation changes; as we become more confident in our work role, we become more assertive in our life in general. Does that mean our very core of who we are changes? Not really, and that also means that we can still maintain the connection we had with old friends, because that old spark is still there. You have common memories, common ground, and if you ever sit and wonder what happened to that person you used to know, perhaps you might also have wondered how to go about reaching out to them once more.
Big Brother?
You might consider it spying or snooping, but many other people consider it freedom of information – we are of course talking about searching public records for information on old friends and colleagues. This is a sure fire way to find someone, find out if they are in your local vicinity, and perhaps reach out to them if you feel you want to. Of course, this might not forge a bond again, as they might not be interested in reconnecting with you, but the chances are that they will be intrigued as to your call, and may give you an opportunity for a chat, just for old time’s sake.
There are many ways we can reach out to old acquaintances, when we don’t have their current contact information to hand. These searches are the tip of the iceberg, with social media making it much easier to reach out to people we lost touch with, and other options, such as reverse phone lookup. Basically, finding people has never been easier.
Conversely, that also means that people can find you too. How do you feel about that?
If you are going to utilise public search facilities to find people you have lost touch with, then you need to make peace with the fact that someone out there might be searching for you too. If that very thought makes you uncomfortable, then don’t use such mechanisms at all. If on the flipside, you consider them to be exactly the same as searching for someone’s Facebook profile (which in many ways it is), then this plethora of information, including last known address, could give you the answers you need.
Big Brother watching or not, when it comes to reconnecting with old friends, old colleagues, and perhaps even old flames, the information you need is out there.