At this point in our lives, we all have our core group of close friends. Of course, over the course of a few years, life experiences can either bring some of you closer together while others drift apart. Â It’s a sad fact of life, but almost all of us will experience a relationship that has run its course, and it can be awkward and weird when you realize too late that your once close friend is suddenly an acquaintance. Here are a few signs that your friendship is clearly coming to an end.
- You stop making plans to hang out. It could be something as simple as a picture she posted on Instagram to make you suddenly realize that you haven’t hung out in ages. One of the first things that happen when your friendship has run its course is that neither of you go out of your way to make any plans with the other when life gets busy and schedules conflict.
- You have separate groups of friends. Not only are you not going out with your friend, but you’ve also noticed that your circle of current close friends and her circle of current close friends aren’t from the same pool. If your friends and her friends don’t know each other or hang out, this could be because your life no longer intersects with hers like it used to.
- Your conversations are based on reminiscing. In the rare instance that you find time to see each other, you may start to notice that the conversation doesn’t flow as easily as it used to. What used to be an effortless bitch session with a friend has now turned into something that resembles the awkwardness of a first date. As a result, you both end up talking about the old times and how it used to be because there’s really nothing in your current lives that either of you can relate to or share.
- She doesn’t know what’s going on in your life. When someone at work accidentally emailed a curse-filled rant about the boss — TO THE BOSS!! — it was the hot news you told all your friends for the day… but she wasn’t one of them. After a terrible fight with your boyfriend, this person isn’t on your list to call when you want to cry and vent your feelings anymore. Your friendship is coming to an end when you don’t share your life with her as much as you used to and soon, it becomes the norm. If neither of you is sharing the little nuances in your lives with each other, that’s a major indicator that your friendship is cooling down.
- You have different interests now. Over the course of our life, your interests come and go, but usually, your friends are privy to all your little whims and lifestyle changes, and some might even join you in whatever underwater basket weaving class you decided to take at the Learning Annex because that’s what good friends do. While it’s not an end all of friendships, if your friend isn’t in on your new interests or if you have no clue what she’s into nowadays, then it’s probably because you’re beginning to drift apart.
- You don’t miss her when you don’t talk for a few days. Your feelings for your friend won’t completely go away because you do have a history with her and you don’t want to just stop seeing her. Â In fact, you probably think you really would miss her if you weren’t friends at all. When this happens, ask yourself if you miss the person your friend is NOW or the person you went to camp with in 6th grade? Rub the romance out of your eyes, see your friend for the person she is now, and ask yourself if that’s the person you’ll really miss. Â If it isn’t, then come to terms with what your friendship has become.
- You only talk via social media. Everyone is within a smartphone’s reach.  Your friendship with your pals is just a tap and touch away when you’re bored on the toilet.  It’s easy to keep in touch more than ever, but if you and your friend’s only source of communication is an occasional comment or ‘like’ on social media. that’s when you know that you’re slowly becoming acquaintances, and that’s okay.  The great thing about social media is that you don’t have to cut your friend completely off just because your lives are going down different paths.  It’s a perfect way to still keep in touch that doesn’t take a lot of effort and you can still maintain a relationship that works for both of you.
