My first semester of college was one of the most hectic, unfamiliar, stress-inducing experiences of my life. To top it all off, I lost one of my closest friends in the process. I was immediately met with a whirlwind of depression. How could I let someone who was once so dear to me slip away? Should I have tried harder? Was it something that I did?
It took me a while to realize that while I did lose a friend, I gained something else - peace. I no longer had to suffer through dull phone conversations struggling to find something new to talk about. There was no more pressure to make time for them during breaks when I had limited time to do just about anything. Losing a friend thoroughly sucks, but it's rarely the end of the world. In fact, my life was better without them.
Here are four signs that your friendship has probably reached its expiration date:
1. You Don't Keep in Touch
Let's be real. College gets hectic sometimes. You're juggling seven different projects at once, you're trying to have a social life and you still need to fit sleep into your schedule. It's easy to forget about people who aren't physically close to you. Don't beat yourself up if you find that you and someone you care about don't speak as frequently as you used to. People lose contact all the time. If your friendship is truly strong, you'll always find a way back to each other. And if you don't, it was probably time to end things anyway.
2. You Have Nothing to Talk About Anymore
Spending time away from people naturally creates some barriers. You have different experiences, new stories and separate groups of friends. This can definitely cause some awkwardness around a friend you haven't spoken to in a while. If you find yourself having different versions of the same conversation you had the last time you spoke, it's probably time to retire the friendship.
3. You Have Nothing in Common
People change and not always for the better. What you both found funny in high school isn't funny anymore. The things you could once relate on are no longer relatable. This was the hardest thing for me to accept when I lost my friend. We were at completely different places in our lives. I had to admit that we just weren't compatible anymore.
4. You Can Live Happily Without Them
Don't hold on to a friendship by its last threads when it's so much easier to let go. Really evaluate what that person adds to your life. If they don't make you unequivocally happy, motivated, confident, etc., chances are you don't really need them.
