Along with the series of articles I've written about maintaining all of the different relationships in your life - family, friends, beta fish, significant others - and how treating people you care about the right way can ultimately strengthen the connections with all of your social circles and pave the way for deep, true friendships. However, I've yet to discuss the people in your life who seem to only stay in it for a brief period of time, and suddenly, you're unsure of your relationship with them, and when they pop up randomly in your mind you're shocked to see them there.
Amidst my perusal of tumblr during a class I probably should be taking notes in, I stumbled across an anonymous quote:
"Between 18 and 22, you meet a lot of temporary people."
If you couldn't tell by now, I am a quote person - they store the most motivation for me to change my life - and this one hit me like a freight train. As someone who loves life and the people that are in it, it was hard coming to the realization that there will be people that are here and there, not fully present in my life.
But this is when I realized that it was okay to deem people "temporary" when it comes to your changes and developments in life. There comes a point where that excited/comfortable feeling is dull and doesn't spark your relationship anymore, and that's okay. We are all changing all the time, never quite the same person we were a while ago. Sometimes the cogs don't really mesh the same anymore, and then it's time to let go.
To all the temporary people I've met in my life, please know that I carry a piece of you around in me everyday. You pop up when I'm least expecting it and I reminisce on the time that we shared, reflecting on only the positives. We might not be together any more, but you still remain in the fundamental parts of my life that contributed to my growth into the person I want to be.
Change in life is inevitable. You make the decisions you make based on the changes that you want. I went through a brief yoga phase and had some cool yoga friends. And when I realized that I was not a yoga person, I ended up involuntarily distancing myself from them, just for the sole fact that I was no longer in their yoga circle (I feel like a mom).
It's okay to stop being friends with someone on a neutral note. Nothing bad, nothing necessarily good. While it was fun while it lasted, there comes a time in your life when some people need to go be in someone else's. You have no obligation to keep people in your life that don't need to be there anymore.
