None of It Was a Waste

There is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately — and it all started with a song.

Every time I listen to it, I find myself agreeing with the words more and more. It’s “Waste” by Myles Smith and James Bay.

I think so many of us look back on past relationships and friendships and see only what we lost — the time, the energy, the pieces of ourselves we gave. We label it all as wasted, as if the ending cancels out everything that came before it.

When things end, there is so much negativity attached to the goodbye.

And don’t get me wrong — leaving people behind, or being left behind, hurts.
Sometimes it hurts more than we can put into words, more than we want to admit.

But endings don’t have to make everything meaningless.

There was a time within those relationships and friendships when you were happy — and that matters. You still carry the good memories, even when it feels easier to focus on the pain. The joy was real. The connection was real. The moments were real.

The song reminds us that none of those times are a waste, because we carry all of it with us — the highs, the lows, and everything in between. And that, in itself, is something to honour.

Some people aren’t meant to stay for the whole book.
Often, they are only meant to be part of a chapter or two.

It’s up to us whether we choose to see their time in our lives as a waste…
or as a memory we will always cherish.