Different Kinds of Toxicity

[silk_noir]

Do you have any friends whom you think are awesome wonderful people, but somehow they have a toxic effect on you? Not necessarily through any doing of their own, it's just how you react to them

Comments

[ccjohn]

I go through that too. My closest friend, in Maine -- her life's perfect, her job's safe, great kids, goes to Thailand and God knows where with her sisters all the time -- makes me feel crummy. I love her, but it's like she's a damn referendum on me and I flunk it.

I think you're realistic about this. It's not weakness of character, just a weird challenge to have to manage. I sometimes wish people were more guarded or subdued about how lucky I'm not -- it feels like that.

[anncetera]

Ah, the joys of insecurity are without number! I don't think I feel this way most of the time, but then again, my give-a-damn-about-what-other-people-think button doesn't always work.

One is usually better served by trying to find something - anything - to be satisfied about in one's own life. It may be something small, or something big... but try not to compare yourself so much to others. Nobody's walked in your shoes, nobody could ever possibly be a better version of YOU.

(I only wish I could be the kind of marvelous person that my dog is convinced I am!)

[mstress_elianor]

This post tweaked me oddly...and I think it's because I might be someone that people are jealous of. I *know* my sister feels this way because on the rare occasions when she drinks she tells me so and I have a friend or two who may feel the same way. That said, my house is a wreck, I have a black thumb even though I adore plants the way a junkie loves drugs, and I have sarcastic muppets in my brain talking to me *all the time*...

AND I'm insecure. The self confidence I've found over the past several years is fragile and I protect it fiercely because I don't want to go back to being neurotic.

I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that someday you are going to look in the mirror and see the beautiful person that others see. But identify the things about yourself that are good and true and you can at least look in the mirror and see a person who is strong, competent, trustworthy...and has character. That will bring confidence and once you have that you will find it hard to let go of.