Hi Alicia,

It can be hard for groups of friends when one is moving on to the next phase in their life while the other is stuck living it like they did when they were younger. A lot of it could be down to jealousy that he is not in the same place as you are.

A good piece of advice I once got was- your true friends are like radiators- they bring you comfort, support and warmth, ‘friends’ are like drains and sap you off all your happiness and energy. It sounds like he is the latter to you right now.

His lifestyle and attitude towards a declined invitation seem to be both indicative that his mentality and approach is younger than yours. If he has fewer responsibilities then he might be able to still live the life you once led.

Perhaps you could talk to him and explain that you are doing different things with your life now and can’t see him as often. Perhaps if you talk to him and tell him to move on with his life it could give him the jolt he might need to try and progress to a new phase in his own life too.

The fact that you have called him a ‘friend’ would suggest that you perhaps don’t trust the relationship your have with him already. If he is sensitive to a lot of things you say then perhaps he is lacking direction and is looking for someone else to blame other than himself.