Stepping away from unhealthy friendships
Friends are like the family you choose – they’re the ones who will pick up when you call hysterical in the middle of the night, the one’s who can make you laugh until you’re on the verge of tears, and, most importantly, they’re the ones you can trust to always be there for you when you need them the most. Friendships are constantly changing, but there comes a point where a friendship stops changing for the better. Friendships stop being the ones you feel comfortable confiding in, they no longer make you feel positive when spending time together, and, slowly, they begin to fade from your life. The problem is not letting go of old friends who no longer help you grow in life, it’s not feeling guilty once you do.
There comes a time when you need to decide whether it is worth keeping in touch with certain friends – old friends doesn’t necessarily mean good friends.
It’s important to be able to distinguish feelings of no longer gaining personal growth or happiness from a friendship from an argument or disagreement that can be resolved with communication and compromise. In most situations, you’ve been thinking about letting go of an old friendship for a very long time, but haven’t had the courage to act on your instincts. More often than not, we hold onto old friendships in the hopes that the outcome will be different, and because the friendships are familiar. The more self-aware you become, the better you can look at the friendships that no longer feel positive and find out what your connection with them is built around, and whether or not that connection is something you still wish to keep in your life. The friendship may be familiar, but as you grow as a person—the things that nourish you and help you stay grounded can change.
Being friends with someone for years and sharing countless memories with them can make it seem like distancing yourself from that friendship is almost like a betrayal when in reality, the opposite is true. Holding onto a friendship that keeps you secretly harbouring negative feelings is not only unfair to the person on the other side of that friendship, it’s also unfair to you. We are often aware when it’s time to step away from a friendship, yet the fear of being alone, being excluded, or being ridiculed can make the process a lengthy and difficult one.
Although it’s a tough move to make, it’s important to stay true to yourself and to what makes you happy in the long run. When you step away from an old friendship, you make room in your life for self-awareness, personal growth, and, most importantly, the chance for new friends to enter your life who can change your life for the better.