Friends. This is something that I have been thinking about for a while. I’ve recently made some decisions where I let some people who I considered friends for a long while, go while not wishing anything bad on them. People grow apart, it’s apart of life. But there are also plenty of other factors that go into reasons why friendships end prematurely. Could be political (which I’ve seen recently), external relationships (boy/girlfriend, husband/wife), or just a disagreement with no reconciliation coming from either side. But what do you do when you lose a friend that has been in your corner for over 10 years? The connection you two had is now a figment of your imagination and has been tossed aside. It’s not going to feel good in the least. It’s going to pull away at you for a while because you will go over everything that you think that could of went wrong and how to fix it.
What I have learned through the long term friendships I have been able to keep and nurture is that friendships are about open communication. Don’t let things fester and boil to a point where you end up destroying something that could have been repaired. It’s dumb and unnecessary. Talk to them, find out what the problem is and get past it. Too many times people let the smallest thing affect a friendship. Just like they would in a relationship.
I have been lucky over the years. I’ve been able to link with people that have added to my life in tremendous ways. I have also let go of cancerous friendships that were either going no where or because their spouse felt threatened by my friendship. At the time, it hurt losing those friendships, but looking back I’m happy I did. I wish them the best but for me to reach my full potential, they weren’t going to help me. The brother in the featured picture has been my friend for a little over 10 years now. We have butted heads on so many things, you would think that we shouldn’t be friends. But we have grown over the years and were able to reconcile whatever disagreements we had and not end a fruitful friendship.
In the end, nurture the relationships/friendships you get into. If someone adds to your life and supports you in many ways, keep them in your life. Will you lose some people? Sure will and it will not feel good at all. But you will gain more by keeping those who support you close. Just a thought!
