When you think back on a friend you lost over a lousy disagreement or felt betrayed by them for some reason, it makes you sad. You may miss that friend, especially if you did get something from them. You reflect on the good times you had with them, whether you went to fairs with them, dinners, movies, or when you and your old friend supported one another during challenging times. When you reflect on those times, you miss them and would love to reconcile with them so you can develop a friendship again. 

Is It Worth Fixing An Broken Friendship?

That is the one question you will ask yourself because some friendships are not worth fixing. Of course, the friendships that were never friendships, to begin with, are not worth it. For example, if your friendship was broken by a friend who purposely betrayed you, you can forgive them, but it may be best to not let them back into your life because who is to say they won’t do it again? In that case, it is best to leave it as there is too much water under the bridge. 

However, if the friendship was broken because of a misunderstanding while you were experiencing hardship in life, or they were the one experiencing the difficulty – or both of you were. Then, you will want to consider reconciling the friendship. In that case, there is a good chance that the friend who left your side at the time misses you too. So, now that you can fix a broken friendship let’s discuss how you can do that. 

Start Communicating With Them

If you stay silent, then nothing will happen. You will still be missing the old friend, and they may be missing you. However, fear may be associated with the hesitation to communicate with your old friend again. The only way to bring them back to your life is to build courage and start talking to them and fixing the problem that happened. And the other thing that could happen is that they may begin talking to you, and if they do, then accept the conversation and listen to them. Hear their side of the situation that caused the friendship to break while you talk about your side, and if they do care about reconciling the friendship, they will listen too. 

Take Responsibility For How You Hurt One Another

While listening to their side of the issue, while you express yours, please acknowledge that you hurt them and take responsibility for it. And they will do the same. Let them express their anger and disappointment, and you should do the same as the last thing you want is to allow any resentment from what happened to stay in your system. Once you have that out of the way, that will help you create a new beginning and friendship again. However, it may take some time for you both to warm up to one another again, even though you would be making a fresh start.  

Work On Releasing Grudges

If looking back and the cause for the friendship to break was trivial, forgiving the old friend will be easy. However, if they broke the friendship because they did something very hurtful to you since they were going through a bad time and were not thinking straight, you may still be hurt by their actions. The best thing to do is to realize where they were coming from, be empathetic towards it, and then release the anger and grudge you may feel. Someone who is a good and genuine person that did something harmful to you because of going through a difficult period would have learned from their mistake. Therefore, they deserve a second chance. 

Appreciate One Another

Once you and your old friend talk about why your friendship crumbled, you will begin to see things from another perspective. Especially after expressing your anger and frustration over it, allowing them to do the same will help create another view. Then you can begin to develop an attitude of gratitude towards one another. You can start to focus on the positive aspects of your old friend and appreciate how they are back into your life, allowing you to have another chance at a friendship. As you express gratitude towards one another, it can help you weather future storms that may arise. 

Make A Vow To Communicate Better With Your Friend

Is it possible that the friendship fizzled previously because neither you nor your old friend was communicating your grievances that you had with one another well? Perhaps that is what you found when you were patching the situation up. Communication is always the key to healing relationship issues and getting your needs and wants to be known. Once you face any problem with your friend in the future, you will need to communicate the issue effectively. 

Remind yourself that you do not want to end up with a broken friendship again because you cherish their friendship. You want to show what you have learned and the lessons that came out of the fractured friendship, so you do not want to make the mistakes. Encourage your friend to do the same if they face a problem. 

You must remember that maintaining any relationship is challenging, so you must constantly work at them. That does not only go for romantic relationships. That goes for friendships and working relationships too. That also goes for family relationships if you they are essential to you. 

However, some broken relationships are best to leave behind. If they are toxic and abusive, you do not want to reconcile that friendship. Some friendships had broken because they were never true friendships, to begin with, as you do not want to be friends with someone who is highly narcissistic. People like that never acknowledge their responsibilities and will keep blaming you for their shortcomings. You want to ensure that the friendship you want to reconcile has the potential to be a healthy and nurturing one because that is what you deserve!