If you can't make new friends, then you've got bigger problems than overwork.
You're missing the point. New friends don't "replace" old friends the way a new dollar bill can replace one you lost gambling. As I said, friends and family are not fungible.
You're missing the point. While family members and 'old friends' are irreplaceable, if you've screwed up all of your relationships beyond repair, you've got to rebuild from somewhere no?
You can't say, "good/old friends are irreplaceable so why bother to make new friends once I've lost them."
You can't say, "good/old friends are irreplaceable so why bother to make new friends once I've lost them."
I'm not saying that; that's as extreme as what I'm arguing against. Obviously you've gotta move forward ... you can't just give up on life if there's a setback. And I generally agree with you that more often than not relationships can be repaired.
But people shouldn't believe that they can just get all of these relationships and lost time back: at best, they can do better moving forward. You can't get your twenties back if you burn them in an office somewhere and you can't get time with your parents back if they, for instance, pass away while you're all wrapped up in your startup.
Pay attention to your life, you only live once, as far as we know. If you wake up one morning to realize you've made mistakes, don't wallow in regret, change your course for the better.
That was my original point. That he/she should make new friends/reconnect with old friends. He/she seems to be in the mindset that, "things have been screwed up, so just throw yourself even more into your startup because you've already invested the loss of your social life as a 'sunk cost.'" I'm trying to say not to do that.
You can never make new friends who have known you since <insert important point-in-time here>. Sometimes having old friends around can be quite important.
