I wanted to end a long-term friendship and thought ghosting was the best option. I was wrong.

"Years ago, a friend ghosted me, so I know how it feels to be on the receiving end. We were close friends, so when they suddenly stopped talking to me without explanation, it was confusing and painful. It felt really mean. It was such an odd feeling to have been friends with someone for so long, and then, for no apparent reason on your end, they just stop talking to you."

"Every time I replied half-heartedly to my friend, knowing that I was ultimately faking my interactions, it just didn't feel kind. Even though I didn't want to do it, I knew the right thing to do was to be upfront and honest. I didn't want to be friends with them anymore, but when I thought about our friendship as a whole, it felt disrespectful to end contact without explanation."

The author initially planned to let a long-term friendship fade by becoming distant and unresponsive, hoping the friend would take the hint. However, recalling a painful experience of being ghosted without explanation years earlier prompted reconsideration. Recognizing the hurt that ghosting causes, the author decided that honest, direct communication was the more respectful approach. Despite the difficulty and potential discomfort of having an explicit conversation about ending the friendship, the author recognized that faking interactions was unkind and that the friend deserved an explanation rather than silent abandonment.

Read at Business Insider