On the Death Of Relationships

     How do you know when a relationship is dying? Not just a romantic relationship, any relationship. Like everything, relationships constantly change and evolve. Depending on the circumstances they become stronger or weaker. So how do you know when a relationship is dying? My personal belief is it starts with a balance shift. When a relationship dies, one person (or maybe no one) finds themselves more invested than the other. It's usually one person calling more than the other, or one person suggesting to hang more than the other. Secondly, the conversation shifts. No longer, is it the intimate conversations of old, now it's either a forced, or surface conversation, in any event, the dynamic changes. The most important indicator (in my opinion) is when you're reflecting mostly on the past, than on the future. For some reason, you reflect on how thing used to be, even if you  don't physically state it. I believe the philosopher Mick Jagger called it the "Memory Motel." I suppose the question is if there's anyway to save a dying relationship? I believe once a relationship gets to the point where it's dying there's no way to go back to the old relationship you remember, even if both parties are invested. Of course a relationship can evolve into something else, maybe something better, but never that moment of old. It's surreal, when you remember the relationships you used to have, and the people you used to know. They become "sweet memories" instead of living relationships. The truth is, when a relationship is dying, the interaction you've had has already become a memory and what you're left with is something else. "Changes fill my time and that's all right with me, in the midst I think of you and how it used to be." I guess when a relationship dies we need to let it or at least accept it. Like life, it's unhealthy to hold on to dead things.