"How many of us have friends who do not appreciate the changes we make in our lives, or feel betrayed when we change in a way that is difficult for them to understand or that puts our own happiness before their expectations."
This is the reason that I lost touch with most of the people who I knew when I was young. I stopped being into partying and drinking excessively and they all called be boring. If not needing to pull over and vomit in a bush twice a week and having pregnancy scares with three or four beer googles hook-ups is boring than so be it lol.
Some of the issue is born out of people's general fear of change. Friends can have a big impact on our lives and some people will feel threatened when they see their friends change. Sometimes, they adjust and get over it and other times, it ends the friendship. It sucks but I suppose its natural. I said this to some the other day and I think it applies here too: You are the only one you absolutely must spend the rest of your life with so it is okay to put your own interests first. If someone hates you for that, screw it, they weren't that great of a friend in the first place.
Haha yes! I love your description of that lifestyle. A lot of friends think I’m boring for not drinking much, I prove them wrong with my manic outbursts that usually lead to us making friends with the table next to us before the first beer is finished :-) not that manic, just happy and energetic.
Yeah, I think selfishness should be a word reserved for people who refuse to see any connectivity between the well-being of themselves and others, not people who are looking out for themselves because if we don’t look out for ourselves, no one else will.