After spending months missing a friend that had walked out of my life, I ran into her again. I had always expected I'd be happy to see her again, and I truly was, but not for the reasons I had once expected. Instead of being happy to see her again, my happiness instead stemmed from the fact that we weren't in each other's lives anymore, as I was finally able to realize that this was a blessing rather than a loss. I immediately became even more thankful for the friends that are in my life now, as I became aware that they fit into my life so much better than she ever had. While I respect her and wish her the best, we just weren't good friends for each other, and that is perfectly okay.
I learned that people walking out of your life doesn't always have to be a bad thing-- in fact, sometimes it can be a great thing. It allows us to step back and realize that our life can actually be better without certain people in it, and it pushes us to reach out to people and develop new friendships with those we may not have otherwise. While it may be hard to understand this in the moment, it's important to remember that there are two sides to every coin, and even the most negative situations can be positives if we take the time to adjust our perspective on them.
Life isn't always easy, and people will leave our lives whether we want them to or not. However, it is important to remember that when this happens it isn't the end of the world-- there are so many other people to be thankful for, and sometimes our biggest losses can turn out to be our biggest gains.