Telling Friends You've Outgrown Them 1

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We all have those friends that we’ve known since kindergarten, elementary, high school or college. Some of these friendships are default friendships (almost like family members, you didn’t exactly choose them, they’re just stuck with you).

Some of these friendships are toxic. They may have been fun back when you enjoyed drama and gossip, but now you’ve matured and unfortunately, they haven’t. You don’t have as much in common as you thought you did. You don’t have the same paths in life. You find their humor more offensive than hilarious. You can’t deal with their negativity. You’re starting to feel like it’s probably time to have the “I’m sorry but we can’t be friends anymore” talk. 

When it comes to this aspect of our lives we often feel like we’re bad people for wanting to cut out the people that we’ve shared ‘amazing’ memories with, like the times you had to carry them home after staying too late at a party you didn’t want to be at. Or the time you had to get another job because they wouldn’t give you back all the money they owed you? 

Most people would think that any sane person should never have this friend in their lives anyway, who befriends people who bring them down anyway? But let’s face it, there are some people who have been included in our lives almost without our permission, like our family friends that we all consider to be as close as siblings, or those friends that come out of nowhere and tug at our humanity by always being in need (we can’t just turn them away right?)........

When you’re working toward a specific goal, you know there are certain types of people you would rather not have in your life.

While you may feel guilty about breaking up with friends because you’ve had them for so long, you might have to admit that their attitudes are holding you back from the progress and optimism you need. 

You may already have a feeling of which friends are not very good for your health (in the same way that you might know that too much chocolate may be bad for your health but you keep searching “why chocolate is good for you” because you’re in denial) So in the same way that you might need to look up the health risks of eating too much chocolate, here are a few signs that your friend is actually a bad friend: 

1. They make you feel bad about yourself;
2. They’re extremely negative;
3. All the drama you have in your life is created by them;
4. They encourage you to do all the risky things they know you’re uncomfortable with (the drug, sex and alcohol pushers);
5. They drain you financially (asking you for cash they never give back, stealing your stuff, constantly needing to be bailed out of anything from a situation to a jail cell);

 -----How To Tell Your Friends You've Outgrown Them, Paired Life, October 19, 2016

COMING UP IN PART 2:

The Signs That You've Outgrown Them 

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