It’s time to outgrow your high school friends.

Bit of a sting reading that header wasn’t it?

For forewarning this doesn’t mean ALL of your high school friends, but an assessment is needed to see if you truly keep them at arms length for no real reason and would their absence mean anything to you in the long run. No, cutting people off just because you’ve grown isn’t always the right choice in many measures, but we all have that friend who constantly reminds you that they only remember what you did in 10th grade, not what you’re completing now. Disclosure: If you’ve been close with your high school friends and have accurately grown with them then by all means please ignore this post as you are the exception and if that high school friend was me then thanks for sticking around for the growth!

Speaking from my own experiences, I have a plethora of high school friends who have been here and there all the way up to my newfound age of thirty and I’ve been thinking about doing another assessment on if it’s time to let people go to make room for more long-standing people. Having more friends on top of friends sounds like an amazing win-win for a lot, but truth be told sometimes you’re only mentioned or around simply because some people peak in high school and only want you around for the fleeting memories. Ever have that one friend who constantly remembers all the fun it was to do a gym class in the mornings and then sprint to math a quarter of a mile away?

Now I do have to clarify that I have high school friends who have been active in my life for the entire time that I’ve known them and I can’t replace them for anything. We decided that we were gonna run the gauntlet no matter what and we’re still in the race. It’s mainly the people who grew distant because they had to live their own life and walk their own paths, but then returned to you without realizing you’ve done the same and don’t have anything worth mentioning of the past as much as they do.

Now I don’t mean to dog anyone or make the hit dog holler or whatever. I just think it’s healthy to sever old ties that aren’t beneficial for you, even if it’s one sided. People grow apart and life happens. You can choose to ignore that person and keep them in your life if you want, but that lingering of always knowing that you have a person in your corner who doesn’t view you currently, but in the past, will be a deadweight you’ll have to eventually cut at some point. It’s better to cut it now then to cut them off because they needed reassurance that life hasn’t been totally bad on their end while you’re living in the now.

Just something to think about. I know I have a lot.

1 thought on “It’s time to outgrow your high school friends.

  1. Thomas

    I appreciate this post’s sincerity about friendship a lot! I think it’s important that we are allowed to evaluate and question which friends we want in our lives. Imo because of amatonormativity, people often think of friendship as this kind of like, passive relationship where people are just casually friends forever, as opposed to romantic relationships which are conceptualized as needing more time and intention and attention. So I am all for forgoing high school friendships or friendships from any walk of life that don’t serve you any longer.

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