It's inevitable, in life, that we are going to drift apart from some people. As a sophomore in college myself, I have slowly distanced myself and lost touch with people who, in reality, weren't that great friends or had different agendas in their lives compared to mine and, In my personal opinion, that is absolutely okay.

We all have our own "plans" for our lives. As we grow older and figure our what is best for our own well-being, we begin to get more picky and selective about who we think is most worthwhile to keep in our lives and who will have a good impact, and we let go of the ones who don't. It's obvious that all relationships — just like life — grow, change, or basically dissolve. For a long time, I took this part of life way too personally, but with age I realized that sometimes it's more a case of realizing, "Wait... I have spoken to so-and-so for nearly two years, what happened?" Along with this is the more dreaded and hurtful scenario when you realize someone has completely abandoned your relationship with them because they personally decided that it wasn't necessary for their lives or well -eing.

After graduating from high school, I naively thought that of course I would stay in contact with every single one of my friends, close or not, and that we would always make sure to find time for each other, no matter what. The harsh reality set in when college started, and people began to start a new chapter in their lives. Those promises were not kept and soon I wasn't even talking to the people I foolishly thought I was close with. In the beginning, for me, it was definitely hard to come to grips with the fact that you were no longer important in someone's life like you once were, and so for that, they decided to stop communicating. I think it's common for a lot of people, especially older teens beginning college, that this is much harder than for those who are older and know that there are some relationships worth fighting for and some aren't.

So why do we feel a sense of loss or sadness when this happens? It's only natural to feel sad or even offended that someone didn't value your relationship with them enough to salvage it, but take it with a grain of salt. Send those people on their way, and focus on the relationships that have survived the ups and downs, the distance, and the weeks without talking. Someone who takes an interest in your life, continues to stay in contact with you, and doesn't take you for granted is someone to keep. Positive influences are the best and most important kinds of relationships in your life, so if you see that someone truly doesn't have a positive influence on your life, don't feel obligated to keep them! You can't save all relationships in your life, because things happens and sometimes the ones that can't be saved aren't really worth saving.

We are all moving, growing, and changing. We all need different things from the world and for ourselves, and that's completely normal! Everyone is an individual and we are all striving to become the best versions of ourselves, however we decide to accomplish that. Try and keep the people who want you to be the best version of yourself as much as you do, because those are the ones worth keeping. Don't feel so bad about the ones who didn't make it. People change and grow apart, and that is an absolutely normal part of growing up.