Friendships are the greatest responsibility to have and a opportunity to enrich your heart and health. A friendship can increase your sense of belonging, improve your self-worth and boost your happiness. However, that’s only when the friendship is helpful and joyous for both. Friendships can turn for the worst and become confusing, making you question loyalty and support. It’s important to know the signs of your relationship and identify whether your friendship is worth keeping. Below are five signs to help you dictate if your friendship is toxic or not.
Beware of the Opportunist
The opportunist is the friend that uses you for your benefits, possessions that you own, and your social status. This person always needs you for your transportation but only for their personal needs. They almost always ask to borrow money and never pay you back, and climb your social ladder for their own prestige and advantages.
The Self-Centered/Egocentric friend
This type of friend always talks about themselves and if not find a way to make the conversation be about them. They never care to ask how are you feeling, how did your day go, what you been up to, etc. In many instances this friend will tend to brag A LOT about themselves, their clothes,life, boyfriend and so on. Basically anything to make them sound better than you.
Break Free From the Clingy One
The clingy friend cannot share you with other friends. When they spot you with other people they become jealous. But yet, this type of friend is a huge contradiction. They’ll leave you out when they’ve found a more important person to be clingy with. When their new bestie, or boyfriend/girlfriend is busy they want all of your time but when that person becomes their center of attention they’ll ditch you and leave you out.
The Fake Friend
This friend constantly puts you down or make you feel small when you’re around other people. Though when you’re by yourself he/she smiles in your face and shows how much they love you. They can never keep promises to you or return the same favors you do for them. Their conversations are usually filled with mockery and gossip about other people.
Move On From the Friend Who Ignores You
This friend will make you extremely annoyed and impatient with the way they ignore you. When you are around them and your other friends they’ll begin to talk to you and then switch their focus to your other friends. On the other hand, when you hang out with them and their friends you almost find yourself competing for their attention. They often “forget” to introduce you their friends, and they’ll make you feel as the third party just tagging along. When you try to start a conversation they’ll dismiss it and continue talking to their friends.
Act on your feelings and analysis to help you avoid getting in a toxic friendship and know when to leave when you are in one. If you recognize these signs trust your intuition that’s trying to warn you about the danger lurking ahead. Evaluate the friendships in your life and determine who deserves your heart. A toxic friendship is not worth your happiness and time.