If your life is a Clutter F**k, you’ve come to the right blog. Whether you want to shed pounds, toxic people, bad relationships, bad habits, bad karma, bad debt, old technology, mind-numbing jobs, closet clutter, debris-filled drawers, garage garbage, collateral damage, filthy finances, litter-filled lavatories, rubbishy rec rooms or scrap heaps of scrapbooks, the Clutter F**k Club will be held every Tuesday. We’ll discuss ways to rid our lives of every kind of clutter so we can make room for positive, life-affirming energy!
There’s a ton of stuff written about toxic relationships between the sexes. But what about toxic relationships between girlfriends? I’ve had a few in my lifetime, and they’re not easy to navigate.
Here’s my personal Five-Step program on how to deal with toxic girlfriends. It worked for me. Disclaimer: I’m a novelist, not a psychiatrist. If this doesn’t work for you, well, what did you expect from someone who dreams up stories in her head?
Step One – Recognition
This can take a while. I’m the kind of person who takes a friend at face value. My best relationships include balance, respect, give and take. So if you’re naive like me, expecting that everyone out there is just like you, it’ll gradually dawn on you (over a period of months or years) that this isn’t happening with your friendship. You’ll realize that you don’t enjoy spending time with your girlfriend anymore. You’ll feel like she’s sucking your soul dry, and you’re not getting any emotional support in return. Your friendship is no longer a tennis match, it’s a one-woman monologue of misery, and you’re the only one in the audience.
Step Two – Communication
As soon as you recognize you’ve got a toxic friendship on your hands, you owe that person an honest conversation. The mature thing to do is to sit her down and tell her how you feel, and what your needs are in the friendship. The immature thing to do is to screen her calls and make excuses every time she wants to meet up. I’ve tried both methods. The mature way is much harder, and the immature way makes you feel very guilty.
Step Three – Fallout
Don’t kid yourself, there will always be fallout, and it’s never pleasant. The truth is I’ve never been able to repair my toxic relationships. They always end badly. Probably because they’re toxic. If you’re dealing with somebody who’s needy or neurotic or jealous or psycho, they’re not going to appreciate your honesty and change the way they behave. Only real friends do that. Toxic friends have problems that are much bigger than one conversation can fix. It’s about them, not you.
Step Four – Closure
Once you’ve ‘broken off’ the friendship, stay firm. Try not to feel guilty. You WILL feel guilty, I’m just advising that you try not to. How? I have no idea. I feel guilty about everything. But don’t allow them back into your life. I’ve never had any regrets. Only a huge sense of relief.
Step Five – Prevention
Prevention IS the best medicine. Don’t allow toxic people close enough to become your friend. Here are some red flags: Calling too much, talking too much (without an equal amount of listening), gossiping about mutual friends, making snide remarks about your significant other, being overly critical, not respecting your privacy, taking advantage of your generosity, feeling played or used after an encounter.
Do you have any toxic friendships in your life? If you had the courage to press the ‘eject’ button, how did it feel?
What an excellent idea for a weekly blog! I love this. I’ll have to keep up with it regularly, since I’m a clutter bug. I blame it on the small house, or whatever other excuse I can come up with. But you just may help me face my excuses, cut the crap, and get rid of the junk.
LOL, it’s almost like losing weight, you feel lighter. You’re surrounded by more space and your head clears. I try to do something each day, i.e. one drawer somewhere in the house. I’m finding things I thought were long gone!
I was once in a toxic friendship for one and a half years with a flatmate from hell(or should I say the devil’s spawn). She was not only a bully but also a user and a liar where she would pick fights with me for no reason, belittle and bring me down constantly. To make that worse, she also backstabbed and told lies about me to my parents and some people. She was a good actress in turning some of my friends against me when she played the victim card. It took me a year and a half to finally to pick up the courage to say enough is enough to her. Honestly, it made me felt relieved having her out of my life for more than six years and counting. Looking back now, I realised she is a pitiful and insecure girl who lied, bullied, used and belittled her victims to mask her insecurities.
It’s hard to believe people can be that difficult, huh? Glad to hear you pried her out of your life, it’s not always easy.
Thanks for stopping by!