With each passing year, my life becomes more busy, hectic and demanding of my time and attention. Learning how to "adult" consumes much of a person, and other aspects of life may end up pushed to the curb and less important. The older you get the less time you have for GNOs, sleep overs entailing scary movies and more candy than should be eaten and wasting gas on old back roads with your best friends. Sometimes your friends aren't able to understand how busy you are, and they eventually let go of the friendship altogether. As I have gotten older, I have lost many friends that I never expected to. Some of the friendships I have lost seem more to me like bad breakups. Losing friends is a part of growing up and discovering who you are as a person. If you are maturing and growing, you are going to lose friends along the way. People change, friends grow apart and some individuals become less important to you as other obligations fill your time. This is okay.
As you get older, not only will you stop keeping in touch with friends, but your friends may start losing touch with you. This is not an experience I would wish upon anyone, and going through this stage in life can be really tough. Whether they just don't have the time to put into the friendship or they realize you both are growing in separate directions, you have to understand that if a friendship is meant to last, both parties will put the effort into making it do so. Friendships go both ways. Letting go of a friendship after feeling cast out is not easy, but, in the end, it might be just what you need.
As some friendships fade and lose touch, those that remain become even stronger. You have more time to kindle those relationships and you can spend more time with those forever friends who, even when you guys go weeks without seeing one another, can pick back up where you left off and catch up on life's craziness. You begin to appreciate their sticking around and the true meaning of friendship becomes evident.
Fortunately, although most friendships hit their make it or break it moments during the first few years of college, this is the perfect time to make new friends and get to know new people. Going away to college is such an awesome experience as you are able to meet so many new people and experience new adventures with them that you might not have been able to otherwise. You will make connections with people and form bonds that fit with the person you are today.
Letting go is difficult. Just remember that what is meant to last, will. Your true friends will understand that growing up is a challenge for relationships and true friends will stick around through every stage of your life.
To my former friends who I have lost touch with, I hope all is going well for you. It definitely was not easy losing you and the friendship we had, but I have hope that it was for the best and that you are doing well. You still mean a lot to me and I am thankful for our memories that will last a lifetime. Maybe one day we will be able to reconnect and spend hours talking over coffee about the time we lost together. Thank goodness for social media and the ability to creep your life from afar. Thank you for the memories, and I wish you nothing but the best.
