Advice Request

This person's former best friend has been mean to them and spread lies about them, leading to other people going against them.

Answered Submission

Honey, this is going to be some tough advice to swallow, so bear with me for this, please. Keep in mind that we have nothing but your interests in mind. My advice to you can actually be given in a sentence: don't care about the haters, and live your life the way you please. Obviously, easier said than done, but here's the long version: what this stupidly ignorant girl is doing to you won't last. Everything has an expiration date—especially your youth. So please, for your own sake, live with no regrets and with no looking back. You may get pelted with spitballs, tripped in hallways, and yelled at. Treat it like it's water sliding off your back. Don't let it affect you, because then you've done the worst thing you could possibly do: let them win. You're probably disappointed with the fact that there isn't a one-way solution. Unfortunately, most things in life can't be laid out in steps for you to follow. You have to adjust this advice to your own terms as you see fit. At the end of even the darkest tunnel is the exit with light shining through. Don't focus on the ever-present darkness. Look for that light, and just live. Your friends were never actually your friends if they can't see through the bs that this girl is spewing about you. A real friend is able to look so deep into you that they can see things that you haven't even begun to realize yet. Find someone like that. If it means abandoning every friend you have, so be it. You can deal. We believe you can. If you have the strength to seek advice, then you are stronger than you could ever know. If you just ignore it, eventually, once they realize they aren't getting a rise out of you, they won't derive the sick pleasure they get from your suffering, and they'll stop. Just remember, Dearie, it gets better. You can do this. We know you can, and deep down, I'm sure you know it too. Just a special, extra tip: what hurts the haters even worse is pretending as though they don't even exist. You've got this. Just keep that mantra in your head. We all wish you the best of luck in this small hurdle of life and in all your future endeavors.

Best of luck and with love,

The Advice Column