Friends Who Disappoint Us

Have you ever had a friend who disappointed you? I mean, truly hurt you to your core? Fighting with your best friend is normal -- but what's not normal is wanting to cut ties without having examined the situation in its entirety. Remember, there are always 3 sides to a story. Yours, theirs and the truth. I never understood this better than this year. I learned not to point fingers but to be open enough to see that my version wasn't what truly played out. I may have looked at a situation through a lens of disappointment, hurt or anger which means I added extra drama to the issue. I know I'm not alone out here in doing this.

I've let relationships go; or rather, haven't invested in the time to get them to the place where hope and forgiveness reside. Instead, I've held on tight to my disappointments and when I thought I was finally ready to forgive, I wasn't. How do I know this? Because the raw emotion of anger, distrust or disgust came rushing through instead of the bright light of friendship.

If you find yourself in this situation where you're fighting with your BFF or a friend has hurt you and you're not sure if you should work on the relationship or not? Ask yourself the following questions. And answer with honestly.

1. Do you understand the real issue? (And it's not the 1st thing that pops into your head-dig deeper)
2. Is it a friendship that they have mutually invested in and do you want to continue to invest in?
3. Are you truly able to forgive and move past it?

WARNING: Don't let too much time pass because just when you're finally ready to let go--the other person has realized there's just too much distance and separation to warrant a friendship repair kit.