The MAINTAIN system transforms friendship from another overwhelming obligation into sustainable life practice. It acknowledges real constraints while creating real connection.
By mastering maintenance, you: - Keep friendships alive through all life seasons - Build support systems that actually support - Model sustainable connection for others - Reduce guilt while increasing joy - Create lifetime bonds, not temporary connections
In Chapter 11, we'll address special friendship challenges—remote work, geographic moves, and major life transitions that test even the strongest connections.
For now, look at your phone. Pick one unanswered message. Send a simple: "Thinking of you." Watch how presence beats perfection every time.
Your friends don't need your perfect. They need your present. Give them that gift today.
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# Chapter 11: Special Situations - Remote Work, Moves, and Life Changes
"I haven't had a real conversation with another human being in three weeks."
Ali stared at his monitor, the words he'd just typed to his therapist during their virtual session hanging in the digital space. At 28, he'd achieved the remote work dream—coding from anywhere, no commute, unlimited flexibility. But his apartment had become a prison of productivity.
"I mean, I talk to people on Slack," he clarified. "And there's the weekly stand-up on Zoom. But actual conversation? Where someone asks how I'm doing and actually wants to know? That's been... a while."
The pandemic normalized remote work, but nobody prepared us for its friendship consequences. Geographic moves, career transitions, relationship changes—these life disruptions have always challenged friendships. But now they're happening faster and more frequently than ever.
How do you maintain human connection when your life keeps shapeshifting?