Have you ever looked back and thought "When did things become so different?" From day to day everything seems the same until one day you realize that everything has changed. Time does that to people. I went from being the girl that gets left to the girl who is constantly leaving and I still don't know when it happened.
It happens slowly and that's where it gets you. You're so close to the situation that the change seems subtle but it's not. There are parts of me that I can say haven't changed and probably never will but when I stepped back and looked at the bigger picture it became apparent that I'm not even the same person.
I went from being the helpless girl that was always being left behind by her friends, boyfriends, etc., to the independent girl who never stays in one place. Having been on both ends of the spectrum I gained a lot of perspective on friendships and relationships. The conclusion I have come to is that life is too amazing to stay in one place. No matter who you are leaving behind.
The hardest thing I have had to accept about my ever-changing life is that maintaining a relationship is damn near impossible. When you're young, going to school, building your life and traveling the world you don't have time to worry about anyone but yourself.
I know what it's like to be left behind and it's not fun. But in the end, life goes on. People come, and people go. My solution? Go. Instead of weighing yourself to one place and putting yourself in the situation to be left behind, leave. You have the rest of your life to settle down and the only people who should leave you are your kids when they go to college.
Sometimes I do feel bad. For the people I leave behind, that is. I try to give them fair warning that I won't be around for very long and no matter how much they say they understand they always end up getting hurt. I don't feel too bad though because that's how life works. People don't stay forever and if you haven't accepted that yet, you need to.
Although this change has been the hardest to see, let alone accept, it's the best one I've made. A change of scenery is healthy, meeting new people is fun, trying new things helps you grow as a person. Somewhere along the lines I stopped being sad about what I was leaving behind and became excited for what's ahead. I went from being the girl that gets left to the girl who leaves and I'll never wish it any other way.
