in the meantime

I've been doing a lot of thinking recently on relationships, specifically the non-dating kind. Somehow I find myself caught in this place of unsatisfaction. The reason of that is because there are times when I find myself in relationships that drag me down more than lift me up. When your hair weighs you down normally you cut it off. So why is it so hard to cut off dead end relationships?

I feel like it's such a double standard to say that you can call it quits while you're dating someone because "We're just going in different directions" or "I just don't see a future for us". Other relationships can cause just as much damage, but are we forced to stick with it because friendship is forever? Sometimes you get to a point with someone where enough is enough. There have been all the conversations and efforts to make it work, but at the end of the day nothing changes.

My questions is: Is it right to throw in the towel on a friendship and call it a defeat?