There is nothing wrong with taking a break from your friendship for a while.

We are human.

When someone is chosen over you, it’s hard.

That much harder when you really like the person who did the choosing.

Nothing wrong with taking some time out for yourself.

It’s tough pretending like everything is fine.

Now that he has chosen another girl over you, whenever he calls or texts you, that sharp sadness instigated by the knowledge he isn’t with you romantically surges through your mind.

It’s hard to get over someone you like romantically when you are repeatedly being reminded of the person, as they call, text or hang out with you as your guy friend.

With this in mind, it isn’t wrong to avoid your guy friend for a while.

But, you need to make him aware of what you are doing beforehand.

Were you to suddenly stop or delay answering his messages, calls or invites to hang out, he is going to wonder what is happening.

Soon, he isn’t happy about what you are doing and chooses to stop messaging, calling or inviting.

He is upset and believes that you are being a big baby, sulking over his rejection of you.

Keeping him as a friend won’t be a given, should he feel like you are being unfair to him.

This is why you need to be tactful in how you do this.

Before taking a step back and avoiding him, talk to him first.

Tell him that you respect his decision to choose another girl over you, but you need some space to come to terms with it.

Let him know that you are taking a step back for now and applying your attention to helping yourself get to a better place mentally.

Be clear that you still want to be his friend, but you need a little space to get over his choice.

Guys are exceedingly understanding with stuff like this.

Guys are often the ones at the end of rejection from women.

He knows what it feels like to want someone who doesn’t want him.

He remembers how those incidents made him feel.

Being that so many guys experience rejection from women, they can empathize with someone who is rejected.

You don’t have to cover up the reality that you need some space to grapple with the rejection and get your head in the right place.

He empathizes.

As long as you inform him beforehand, you never run the risk of him misinterpreting your avoidance as a sign of you retaliating against him for the rejection.

Inform him first and then, take a break from the friendship for a while.

During this period, you need to be putting in the work to overcome your emotions.

This period isn’t an excuse to talk to your friends about him incessantly or monitor his every move on social media.

You need to be doing the work on yourself to overcome your emotions of sadness and disappointment.

This is where you are doing positive activities in your life to take your mind off the rejection, from exercise to traveling.

Enrich your life with wholesome and exciting activities.

This keeps your mind preoccupied, so that you aren’t dwelling on the rejection.

As long as you are diligent in doing this, you are over him in a few weeks and your friendship with him is ready to restart.

You must do this work on yourself first, before restarting your friendship with him.

To not do it, leaves you with lingering emotions that negatively affect your friendship with him into the future.

The friendship won’t last when lingering emotions of desire remain.