Yes, romantic breakups are heartbreaking, but friendship breakups can hurt just as bad. There is no dearth of songs, shows, and movies focusing on the difficulties of relationship breakups. But when it comes to navigating the end of an important friendship, it can feel like we’re left on our own.
Growing up, we’re taught how to make friends, how to share and as we age, we realise the importance of it. Yet, we never talk about what to do when they end. Yes, romantic breakups are heartbreaking, but friendship breakups can hurt just as bad. Now surviving that isn’t easy, but here’s how to start the process.
Acknowledge What Happened And Give Yourself Time To Process & Grieve
You never really foresee breaking up with your best friend , you assume you’d be there when they get married, have a baby and share important milestones together, but a sudden breakup can leave you feeling disoriented and disappointed. We suggest to take the time to reflect on your friendship, and process what happened. By just putting a band-aid to it and not taking the time to grieve, it might take you longer to move on.
Accept That It Wasn’t Meant To Be
Remember your best friend from college? Who you thought will always be with you, no matter what, and yet the two of you don’t talk anymore? Well, such is life! Accept that the two of you were meant to be in each other’s lives for a certain period and then move on.
Be Grateful Of The Support You Still Have
It sucks going through a horrible day and not having your best friend to call at the end of it to vent about things. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have any support. No, we aren’t asking you to replace your BFF with a different person, but just be glad for the people in your life including your coworkers, family, spouse, that might be able to cheer you up and offer support in navigating thise phase.
Don’t Bad Mouth The Person And Accept Accountability
Remember the age old saying, “it takes two to tango”? It’s true! Any breakup is rarely ever just one person’s fault, but it’s easier to be angry at the other person than to acknowledge your mistake. However, realising your mistake and accepting you were at fault too will just bring you one stop closer to truly putitng things in the past and moving on. Also, no matter how tempting it may seem, refrain from bad mouthing your ex best friend to your other friends!
However, Sometimes, It’s Worth Trying To Mend Things
If all of the above things don’t work for you and you find yourself missing your bestie more than you’d like to admit, maybe you could think of patching things up with them? And if you’re still unclear whether or not you want them in your life, you might at least want to make the effort of reaching out and talking things.
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