One of my besties is having a major crisis in his life and it's been going on for 3 months now.
When it started, he admitted that he wasn't happy and we agreed to give each other space since we became easily irritated by each other. He had this low tides episodes before in his life but he always bounced back, so I thought I'll wait for him to come around.
Except this time he hasn't. Then I realised that this time, it's serious.
Now here's the problem with people with problem. When it's severe and chronic, they got caught in it that their problem becomes their identity. They begin with having a distorted view about important things in life that later infects everything they see and hear. And since most of the perception is negative, thus the irritation. Of course, their personality also changes. Even the kindest, most lovable, charming and warm people can turn into asswipes overnight. The difficult thing is, they will also take you for granted, simply because no one else is available. They don't appreciate the fact that you see right through them but you still stick around because you still believe that there's a better version of them inside that moron you still call a friend. They don't say thank you, they forget to say please, and waiting for their apologies regarding their less-than-acceptable behavior will be like waiting for the Haley comet. They are insensitive to your needs but once you forget theirs, they will make you feel like the most horrible human on the planet.
(sigh)
However, friendship, if it's real, and love, if there's one in it, are not that easy to destroy. The funny thing when you love a person is that you don't always like their little traits, but you still love him/her as a whole (which is the opposite when you dislike a person: you can like their little traits, but you can't stand their whole existence). So you sigh. And you shrug, for the hundreth time, and proceed to find something to do to amuse yourself while your friend is battling their demons. You just hope that he wakes up one day with a realisation that he's not helping himself by pushing away people who care about him. You pray that he'll eventually open up, seek help, and get back to normal.
The problem with people with problem is that they can be difficult to deal with. But they can teach you so much about love, kindness, generosity, compassion, patience, and empathy. All features of strength that doesn't always come with muscles and steroids. And if that doesn't help, you can always walk away and add another lesson about the art of letting go.
