Personal Changes

Friendships are affected by both internal tensions and external pressures. I think the most relatable of these two types of friendship risk factors is personal changes because change is inevitable. We all grow into new chapters of our lives and these transitions bring forth new insights, interests, perspectives, and attitudes. A party friend is not as essential for someone who is over the party scene; and someone who is over the party scene is not as useful to someone who parties four times a week. There are many reasons why friendships evolve or fail. Personal changes can greatly affect a friendship because these changes introduce new conditions that must either be accepted or rejected. Pregnancies, careers, relocating, etc. all impact friendship. The extent to which the friendship is affected deals primarily with whether maintaining the relationship is worth the effort. If it is a strong friendship such personal changes will not create sufficient change to alter it in any significant manner.