I recently lost a 12-year-friendship with someone I cared so much about.
Really, I thought that this was going to be a lifetime friendship. I’m not gonna go into details about what transpired, because I do not want to relive the hurtful moments or the stress involved with coping with this experience.
However, I want to talk about things I have learned from losing friendships based on my experience, with the hope that someone going through a similar experience can learn a thing or two from mine.
- Not All Friendships Are Meant To Last Forever: As much as it hurts to say this, it is actually true. Some friendships are seasonal or meant to only last for a certain amount of time. There are even times when you are best friends with someone this period and later on, you barely keep in touch with each other. I don’t know if there’s a way to ascertain what kind of friendship you have with all the people in your life, but I do know that not all friendships are lifetime friendships. It is what it is.
- The Internal Questioning Never Ends – When you lose a friendship that you thought would last forever, there is a lot of internal questioning. You find yourself asking if you are a bad person or a bad friend. Even when it’s evident that the other person is at fault, there will be times when you find yourself thinking about what you ever did wrong that led to the death of the friendship. You’ll wonder if you could have done or said something different. If you fully believe that you had no part to play, and it was the other person’s fault, you may ask how on earth you were ever friends with that kind of person because that whole episode exposed you to a different side of them.
- Life Goes On – If losing a friendship caused you a lot of pain, it could lead you to a dark side. I once saw a tweet – “Friendship breakup hurts more than relationship breakup” and I can’t even explain how APT that saying is. However, the truth of the matter is this – life will and does go on. Maybe one day in the future, you will regain your friendship. Maybe truly that ship has sailed forever. Whatever the case may be, life will go on and I hope that you take the lessons learned from your lost friendships to help you become a better friend to the ones you currently have.
To my lost friends, Thank you for being a part of my life and even though we aren’t in each others’ lives anymore. I had good times with you and I will cherish those memories forever.
