It is the start of a new school year. For some of us that means it’s the start of new friendships, for others its the end. The end of years of friendships, laughter, memories, adventures, experiences, and most importantly, love. This used to be unimaginable to me, until I experienced firsthand what it’s like to lose people I thought would be in my life forever.
I was naive, thinking that starting college wasn’t going to change my relationships with people. I would hear upperclassmen talk about how their friendships didn’t work out, how high school was a waste of a social life, etc. and I would always think: “Ha, that’s never going to happen to me”. I had a girl group in high school. We would always be together hanging out on the weekends, making our schedules match, experiencing new things together, going on a lot of adventures, celebrating our birthdays with each other, etc. We were your ultimate “squad goals”, and of course we fought, who doesn’t? But then summer came, we had all just graduated and we knew our futures were fast-approaching. We said to one another that this summer will be our summer to live it up before we got buried in college, work, and everything else. Funny thing is, the group separated as soon as summer started and worsened as the school year began. Who has control over that? Who’s in the wrong? All of us? The one who changed the most? The one who barely tried to make an effort? Is it none of us because this tends to always happen? I don’t know.
What I do know is you need to figure out for yourself when it’s time to walk away. Leave those old friendships, start new ones, and start your new life. I want to say I tried to make it work, others would disagree, but I knew when it was time to walk away from somebody. I’m not just talking about walking away from those high school girls you hang out with everyday for four years. I’m talking about walking away from family, people you grew to love, people you would never imagine leaving, people you became somewhat dependent on, and people who you can see a future with. Whether you are in an extremely toxic relationship with somebody or you just don’t see the point in being friends with a certain someone because they just aren’t your cup of tea anymore… walk away. I know it’s hard, it’s always hard, but when you finally cut that person out of your life, you will feel relief. You will meet new people, you will have new memories, new experiences, new adventures, and most importantly, new love. So don’t be scared, be brave.