</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
Wants2Fly said:
Direction, I am finding that friends I've had for 30 years are leaving my life. It's hard and makes me feel badly, but my therapist thinks that the relationships were dysfunctional. She suggests that as I get healthier, I need different kinds of friends.

Is it possible, Direction, that you are getting healthier and it's time for you to be in the market for a better class of friend? Just a thought. Maybe it's not you -- maybe it's them.

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">

I isolated myself as well. I think that's a defensive mechanism we all use: it relieves one kind of pain but brings on another.

I had posted that I wasn't ready for this and some dear cyber friends showed me differently. Maybe a shifting paradigm is taking place for you, Direction, and you're outgrowing what your friends can provide for you. They say relationships are always changing and "friendships" are relationships.

Perhaps try looking at this experience as a new oppertunity to expand your friendship base and not as a loss.