How to End a Friendship (Sort of) Nicely

“The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.”― Bob Marley

Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

Your oldest friend is struggling with a breakup.

You get it, and you’ve been in her corner 100 percent, but here’s the thing — her ex left her two years ago.

You’re exhausted (and more than a little bored), she can’t let it go and every conversation is filled to the brim with her angst — grief at her ex, her dating failures and her loneliness. She hardly even asks about you, and your life, anymore.

Catching up feels like a chore — one you increasingly try to avoid. You’re on different life paths, anyway — if you’re honest, you have been for a long time.

Is it time to move on?

Most of us arrive here at some point, questioning the wisdom and worth, of maintaining an existing friendship. And, if it’s no longer working, wondering how to break up well.

Unlike intimate relationships where finances and chattels have to be split, and kids and pets co-parented, friendships don’t have clear markers of togetherness.

When two friends hit a rough patch, there’s no need to lawyer up; decide where each of you is going to live, or…