I lost a hell of a lot of friends when I stopped for 5 months a few years ago, but we used to drink at the same pub. I got over it. When I ended up going back, the whole group were still there like it was yesterday and I was back where I started, still having the same conversations etc.
When I joined the Police in 2002,one of the interviewers asked if I'd lost friends due to joining the police. I said I had (two mates I had known since school couldn't accept my new career choice). He just said, "They weren't very good friends then were they?" He was blunt, but spot on.