It takes a long time to have an old friend, but that's not a reason to keep them

This is going to be short (I think). I don't want to elaborate too much and I want to keep the message direct.

I have had so many conversations recently with people who have had reoccurring moments of friends behaving in such a way that is not in-keeping with their own morals or values or a friend has treated them badly repeatedly or just in general they are completely out of kilter with a particular person. What have all of these conversations had in common? The friend in question is a childhood friend. It's like if you have a friend from school or longer they become immune to the normal standards you set for people you want in your life.

Why, when it comes to childhood friends do we allow that kind of behaviour and negative impact in our lives? My answer to you is - we shouldn't. Friendships are the same as relationships - if a friend of mine was in an emotionally draining, negative relationship where they didn't believe in the same things anymore or want to go in the same direction anymore, my advice for them would be to end it sooner rather than later and if they told me they should stay in it because they have been in it for a long time I would quite simply say.

That's not a reason to stay. It's quite possibly one of the worst reasons to stay.

Friendships are the same. They work for a purpose and they serve different times in your life in different ways. You grow and change and develop as a person constantly. As you grow and change, some friends will change in the same way at the same pace and others won't. And that's okay. But don't hold onto friendships just because they've been around for a long time. You don't know how much that is suffocating you and sapping you of energy you need to live and live well!

Yes it's scary and you might feel guilty. But in my opinion I want my life full of the best people around, for me. And the best people don't always have to be the people that have been there the longest.

#newblog #friendships #relationships #change