How To Fix a Broken Friendship with Your Crush?
Unrequited love may feel like your heart is being torn apart. Not receiving the same love you’re pouring onto someone, especially if it’s your friend you’re crushing on, is not a great feeling. And if it has led to a broken friendship, this article is for you! Read on to learn how to fix a broken friendship with your crush.
Things can get awkward between you and your crush after your friendship with them is broken for any reason. However, it is not impossible to mend the friendship if you value it a lot.
Tips on How to Fix a Broken Friendship with Your Crush
Let’s explore a few tips on how to fix a broken friendship with your crush.
1. Allow yourself to grieve
Experiencing unrequited love is painful. You might go through all the stages of heartbreak—denial, anger and resentment, acceptance, and healing. It takes time to grieve and move on from the heartbreak.
Once you feel you have gone through all these stages, ask yourself whether you want to be friends with them. Especially the question- Are you ready to be ONLY a friend to them?
If the answer to these questions is yes, then you can prepare yourself for the next step.
2. Reach out to them
Once you are sure that you value their friendship and want to continue with it, reach out to them in a meaningful way. Tell them that their friendship is very important to you and that you wish to remain the close friend that you once were.
When you make your intentions clear about the friendship, it is easier for them to decide. Allow them time to process.
3. Apologize if needed
If you have hurt them for a reason, apologize to them and ask for forgiveness for everything you’ve done to offend them. Be genuine in your apology. People can call out when the apology doesn’t come from the heart.
However, if you feel that you’ve not done anything to offend them, then an apology might not be needed.
4. Be ready to forgive them
If they have offended you or caused you pain, be ready to forgive them. You will be able to move on and have a friendship with them only if you are able to heal yourself and pardon them for their mistakes.
If you don’t forgive them, then you’ll be holding on to grudges that might come up later and ruin the friendship.
5. Express your emotions clearly
No one can guess what might be going on in your mind. So, it is very important to tell them clearly what you feel and what affects you. Most arguments and disagreements are caused by miscommunication. Hence, it is a good idea to be honest with them.
6. Discuss what went wrong with them
Maybe your crush started dating someone else or stopped hanging out with you. Whatever the reason, discuss what you felt.
For example, you might say something such as, “I know that Anna came into your life, and you are really happy with her. But I feel like we have drifted apart. Can we work on getting things back to how they were?”
Make sure that you listen to their perspective as well and consider their views.
7. Be ready to listen to them
Now that you have made your views and feelings clear, it is time to hear them out. Let them initiate the conversation and listen to them with an open mind. Make eye contact with them, which conveys that you are interested in their views.
Ask them questions such as, “Did I do something that has bothered you?” These questions could help them open up better.
8. Treat them like a friend and do not flirt with them
Flirting might seem irresistible in some cases, but try your best to resist that urge. Do not go overboard with compliments or physical touch. Remind yourself about the boundaries in a friendship and act accordingly.
On the contrary, if it’s them who is flirting with you, ask them politely not to do so. Tell them that friendship is really important to you and that you wouldn’t like to ruin it.
9. Set firm boundaries
Remember, this person was your crush, and you had (or still have) romantic feelings for them. So, you need to set firm boundaries with them to mend and save the friendship.
This may include limiting the time that you spend with them or stepping back until you heal fully. If you were meeting up with them every other day, try meeting once a week. If you text them daily, try texting them once every few days.
10. Don’t get jealous if they start seeing someone else
It is difficult to see them dating another person, but if you really want to continue the friendship, you might want to be cool about this fact.
They need to know that this new dynamic will not change your friendship, that they can trust you, and that you won’t leave them in the lurch.
11. Make appropriate efforts for friendship
It takes work to mend and save a friendship. Be patient while trying to connect with your friend. Check on them from time to time and do what feels right to you.
Set aside the appropriate amount of time for them so that you don’t drift apart and can communicate properly. That said, don’t go out of your way or stress your limits to be available for them.
Closing Thoughts
Having one-sided feelings for someone is not pleasant. However, if the person is worth being your friend, you can work on the friendship and save it. It is nevertheless important to know if the person is really worth it.
Invest the love and energy in yourself and be there for yourself. There is no need to beg for friends to stay, and there are definitely other people out there who can be better friends to you.
