Dear Friend (or should I say ex-friend?),

I wonder if you've realized what you've done. You have pushed away everyone who has cared about you and tried to be there for you. You have made everyone around you feel like a lesser being, in order to raise yourself up and boost your own self-worth. There were times where I thought this was how friendships were supposed to be as you got older. You dealt with their drama and they dealt with yours. But it seemed the spotlight was always on you and that the rest of us were only there for your entertainment. The people around me always asked why I was friends with people like you and how I could even bear to be around you. And you know what? I always stood up for you, even when it seemed like I had no reason to stick around anymore. Despite everything, I was there for you. I was a friend, even when you were not.

Now looking back at it all and evaluating my experiences within this so-called "friendship," I realize that it's time to move on and say goodbye to this relationship and all of the pain associated with it. But with ending it, I realized how much I have grown as an individual, and how it may have even changed me for the better. While you may have attempted to belittle the people you called your friends, made us all filled with anxiety and stress, and made things feel more dramatic than "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills"...I want to thank you.

Thank you for teaching me that I don't need toxic people like you in my life. Thank you for empowering me to no longer sit back and take demands and insults left and right, and to finally stand up for myself and my own opinions. Thank you for making me realize who my true friends are, who actually have my back and care about me, rather than selfish people similar to you who only worry about themselves. I'd like to thank you for allowing me to see my self-worth and all I am capable of doing because after the hurricane of drama died down, I finally saw that the real problem wasn't me at all and, in fact, it always led back to you and your actions.

If it weren't for you, I would never have been as driven to be independent. I never would have appreciated the silent nights reading a book, or watching marathons of Netflix like I do now. If it weren't for my experiences with you, I would have been a totally different person and would be unable to voice my opinions and be confident in backing them up without the fear of being knocked back down. Now, I know how to spot toxic people in my life just like you and how to handle the situation. I'm free from the weights dragging me down to feeling lesser than anyone else, and I'm happier than I've been in a long time.

Thank you.