Why You Should Never Feel Guilty For Ending A Friendship
Friendship breakups are totally normal in your 20s.
Whether your friendship came to a natural end or you were forced to cut ties, friendship breakups are totally normal in your 20s. Eventually, everyone has to go through it.
Here’s why you should never feel guilty about it.
You Shouldn’t Have To Put Up With Toxic People
Remember the reason why you decided to break it off with this friend. Did they always talk about themselves? Did they call you names, put you down or embarrass you?
It takes a while to realise a friend is toxic; you just kind of accept their bad traits as who they are. But there comes a time when you realise you don’t feel very good about yourself when you’re with this person.
Friends are cheerleaders, they convince you you’re awesome and that you can do anything you put your mind to. If you have a friend that constantly puts you down, you shouldn’t feel guilty about addressing the issue or distancing yourself.
You Need To Value Your Freedom
Good friends teach you things, open your eyes to new experiences and are always there for support. It’s a common thing to leave our friends from high school because they’re stuck in their old ways and not growing up with you.
You need friends who encourage your dreams, are happy when you succeed and are always there when you need them.
If it feels like your friend only calls you when it’s time to get blackout drunk together, scoffs at your ambitions or mysteriously disappears when you’re upset and need someone to talk to, then cut them off.
If your friend is stunting your growth as an adult and dragging you down, it’s for the best.
You Don’t Have To Forgive Everybody
You don’t always have to forgive and forget for the sake of the friendship. If your friend has really hurt you and you can’t see any way to forgive them, then that’s completely OK.
You shouldn’t have to put up with bad and hurtful behaviour because you’re scared of losing your best friend, or you feel like you should get over it. You need to let people know that if they hurt you, they lost their chance at being your friend. It’s their loss.
It’s OK To Just Not Like Someone Anymore
There might not even be a reason for your friend break up. You might realise you simply don’t see eye to eye on things, or you don’t have anything in common anymore.
Maybe you’re just friends out of habit and neither one really wants to say the words and let the other go. If you’re hanging out just to be nice, then you should consider cutting ties.
If You Can’t Trust Them, Don’t Bother
Trust is really important in a friendship for obvious reasons. When we’re upset we vent to our mates, we talk about someone who’s upset us, we confide in them and make ourselves quite vulnerable.
When a person betrays that trust, or a rumour goes around about what you said, it can feel like a punch in the gut.
If there isn’t loyalty and trust, the two fundamental things a friendship needs, then what’s the point in keeping it? If they’ve betrayed your trust then they don’t deserve another chance.
And Remember, There’s Always Someone Else
Going through a friend breakup can be difficult, especially if it’s someone you used to spend a lot of time with.
But remember strangers are friends you haven’t met yet and there’s always someone new around the corner.
Sophie Nicolas studying a bachelor of arts in creative writing and is an aspiring writer, dog enthusiast and thrift shop fashion icon.