Moving On From Fake Friends — 5 (relatively) Easy Steps
Unfortunately sometimes friends who you once couldn’t get enough of morph into people you no longer want to have in your life. It’s rather sad to have to let go of someone, but having someone close to you who doesn’t add anything positive to your life will end up making you far more miserable in the long run. Drastic times call for drastic measures, which is why instead of beating round the bush you should grab the bull by the horns and cut these toxic friends out of your life once and for all. Here are 5 steps which should help you with this process.
It’s Block time, baby
We all love a good stalk, but when it involves our exes (romantic or non romantic) seeing their name plastered down your social media feed is not going to help the healing process. Block! Avoid the temptation to just ‘unfriend’ them as one moment of curiosity can leave you right back at square one. Why do you care what they’re doing anyway? You removed them from your life for a reason, remove them from your social media too.
Whilst you’re at it, delete their number too. We all know that after a few drinks emotions can run wild, so do sober you a favour and remove any phone number or means of contact that drunk you could potentially use. I can assure you you’ll be glad in the morning.
Rise above the pettiness and bitterness
Realistically, friendships rarely end on a positive note. Especially if you have made the conscious decision to actively remove someone from your life. But with fake friends, it has to be done. With the end of a friendship a lot of anger and bitterness tends to manifest itself as to be honest, no one wants to find out they are no longer friendship material. These people may talk badly about you behind your back, or take to social media to write hurtful things but ultimately you should never stoop down to their level. It is important to rise above all these negative and stressful emotions and focus on the positive outcome that removing this person from your life will achieve. It is easy to be angry and behave in an irrational and hurtful way, but it takes a much better person to ignore it and move on with their life. The past is in the past for a reason!
You lose some, you gain a tonne more
In the height of this process it can be easy to forget that although you’ve lost someone close to you, you are still surrounded by many people and genuine friends who care and love you. Not to mention all the people you’re going to meet in the future! In the words of William Butler Yeats: “There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t yet met.” It’s important to remember to surround yourself with people of quality and letting go of someone who didn’t meet that criteria is not a loss!
Talk talk talk
TALK! Coming from the last point, talk to people you trust about what’s happening. Venting and getting your feelings off your chest can work wonders, especially at a time of stress. But remember that constantly bitching about why this person is the worst can also have the opposite effect and leave you feeling angry and annoyed. Remember that once some time has passed it’s probably best to stop talking about them and leave them where they belong, at the back of your mind as a distant memory. It’s a fresh start, after all.
Forgive and forget
That’s right. Why hold on to all the anger, bitterness and hurt, when you could just get on with it. Some relationships have an expiry date, and you can’t help that. The universe had a plan and your journey of being friends has now come to an end. Save yourself the stress and heartache and let bygones be bygones! No hard feelings. Let go, and move on.
