Your Friends Can Make You Unhappy
Toxic relationships are not just limited to lovers or family, but they can also be friends. Having friends in your life is supposed to be a good thing. They are supposed to create a happier life, offer you support, and keep you from allowing yourself to fall into a pit of despair – but not all friends are created equal.
It can be confusing to spot a toxic friend because they are, after all, your friend. You are supposed to be happy around them. You view them as a constant in your life and you want them to be there forever, so sometimes you overlook the things they do so that you can keep that perfect vision of them. But that veil that you have put over them will only last for so long. Eventually you will see the real person behind it and here is what they will look like.
They are Egotistic
It’s all about them! When you are talking they are always concerned with their problems or achievements and finish the conversation when they are done talking. They don’t take into consideration you and your need to share with them. And even if they are ‘listening’ they are really just waiting for a point to interject something about their own life.
They make the decisions about where to go, what to do, and how to do it. If they don’t get their way then they are unhappy and make you feel bad. Usually you just give in and do things their way because it’s easier – and it’s no big deal right? Wrong!
We can only play ‘follow the leader’ for so long in our lives before we become tired of it! It can cost us our self-confidence and our ability to make our own decisions.
Plus our friends are supposed to be the people we can complain to in order to feel better about life. We can tell them anything and they understand us and agree with us and make us feel better – but when you never get to share YOUR side of things then you can feel more alone than if you were actually alone!
They Don’t Want You to Succeed
A true friend should be supporting you in life and helping you move forward. They should be there to give their best advice and offer any insights they have to help you succeed in life. A toxic friend will not do this.
A toxic friend will try to make you not succeed in life. They will guard their best secrets and avoid giving you information that will help you grow as a person or become happier.
An example of this is a friend who knows someone is interested in you but tries everything they can to stop the relationship from happening. They don’t inform you of that person’s interest, they don’t get excited for you when you are excited about that person, and they don’t encourage the relationship to pursue if it really makes you happy.
They are Generally Unhappy in Life
A toxic friend is always unhappy with themselves in some way. They are not really a barrel of laughs to be around, and that’s because you can’t make other people happy in life until you yourself are happy.
They will spend much time complaining or whining. They will be the ones with their hands in the air giving up when the going gets tough. They will demonstrate a lack of enthusiasm for life and be the first to quote a saying like “Life never works out the way you planned!”
They bring you down when you are around them and you find you spend much of your time trying to make THEM feel better.
If you see any of these 3 traits in your friend then you can bet that they are a toxic friend on some level. They are bringing you down, affecting your happiness, and holding you back in life. A true friend would be lifting you up, making you happier, and supporting your personal growth in life. Surround yourself with true friends and let go of the toxic ones.
About The Author:
Kari writes for Manifest Connection, a personal growth blog focusing on the happiness and health of the mind, body, and soul.
Processing your request, Please wait....
