Ending a Friendship

"A friend is one who believes in you when you have ceased to believe in yourself", is how a famous quote goes. It is so amazingly true of the really good friends all of us have. No, rather this is the sign of a great friend. Friends and friendship are one of the best things to have happened to mankind, according to me. Just imagine what our lives would be without friends? I am sure, it would be horrendous and terrible. The moments we share and spend with them are etched lifelong in our memories. Moreover, I believe that as you grow, you get a whole new perspective of friendship at each level. That is what makes the concept of friendship so amazing for me. But everything is not rosy in this life. There can be a dark side to this, as well. It could very easily happen that you made friends with an individual and after knowing that person for sometime, you think that this is not going to work out, for various reasons. The reasons could be that person's behavior, personal reasons or any other reasons. So, you decide on ending a friendship. But how do you go about it and put a period to your friendship? Here is more on that.

How to End a Friendship

• Get to the basics. Introspect why you want to end a friendship and are the reasons valid enough for you?
• If you are convinced about the justification, only then you can put across the point.
• For instance, you know when to end a friendship, if your friend is seemingly demoralizing or discouraging you. So after you do that, go slow and steady and first ask your friend for a suitable time and tell him or her to meet you.
• Keep in mind that the place should be where you can have privacy and call the shots. Do not beat around the bush, say what you want to say about ending the friendship.
• Please do not ramble, just get it over and done with. Ending a relationship is painstakingly difficult and to ending a friendship, is no less different.
• Be direct and honest, but do not be harsh and mean. Furthermore, give the valid reasons for bringing your friendship to a close.
• Of all the things after you have put forth your case, be mentally ready for the repercussions. Because, it is possible that you could get any type of reaction to your decision of ending a friendship, from submissive to violent (hopefully verbally).
• So, stay calm and let the person vent. After all, you have declared the end of a friendship. It will take time for your friend to digest the shocking fact.
• If you do not want to get into all this, slowly cut off all contact with your friend. This will give your friend a hint and if he has enough commonsense he/she will realize that you are not interested in him or her anymore.
• When you make new friends or if your common friends ask about your friendship, do not talk about your friend in a negative manner.
• Whatever said and done, that person is not your enemy even if you have ended your friendship, so be cordial if you bump into him/her after you call it quits.

All this holds for a person who is inherently negative and you happened to strike a friendship unknowingly with that person. So, gracefully ending a bad friendship using these tactics is always a good option, rather than completely ignoring that person. I mean you have no other option, right, if your relationship is proving a hurdle to your happiness? So, let him or her go their way and you go your way. Have your way while ending a friendship, but just refrain from hurting your friend emotionally. There cannot be anything worse than that. Ultimately, if these lines by Albert Camus do not hold any significance for you and your friend, parting ways is what you can do. I sign off here!

"Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Don't walk behind me, I may not lead.
Walk beside me and be my friend."