Toxic Friendships,,

موضوع: Toxic Friendships,, الأربعاء أكتوبر 08, 2008 9:53 am

It’s easy to know when you don’t feel well. But it’s not always as easy to know when our health is being threatened by things other than viruses and bugs, such as relationships.

Believe it or not, doctors say that the health of our relationships has a direct bearing on our personal health and happiness. It’s just as important to make sure we’re in healthy relationships as it is to take precautions with our physical health.

Author Harriet B. Braiker has written that we are obsessed with health and physical well-being—our own and that of our planet. She finds it sad, however, that “we have remained ignorant of an equal or even greater threat to our physical well-being: psychological poisons produced by toxic relationships....

Many people equate unhealthy relationships with dating situations, but friendships can have just as much potential for problems. For instance, friends who use each other or aren’t totally honest with each other don’t have a really solid friendship.

Remember that friendships are supposed to support and encourage you to be the best person you can be. If you don’t feel good when you’re with that particular friend, then you surely can’t be doing much to bolster your own self-esteem.

You shouldn’t let others put you down or treat you poorly in any way. You should treat yourself well and take care of yourself because God thought you were special enough to be born. You should also expect the same treatment from your friends. Of course, that means that you must remember that your friends were also created by God and treat them with the same consideration and love you would expect yourself.

By : Susan Hines-Brigger