|
|
|
9 Ways to Motivate Yourself When You Just Don't Feel Like It
Achieving the really big goals and dreams always involves breaking it down into do-able little steps. Assuming that you've picked a goal or dream that you really love working at, then most of the steps are a delight to take. No matter how much...
Bless Your Child With the Name
What a dreamer I am when thinking about parenthood. Most of the time, I do this without knowing to whom my heart will belong and who will share that sacred responsibility. Even though, I am connected with the billions of souls that have always faced...
Holistic Junction Explains Why Healing Arts and Massage Schools are Vital to the Medical Community
With over 2 million consumer hits monthly, and 13,000+ page views per day, Holistic Junction discovered the crucial need for promoting Healing Arts and Massage Schools for several reasons. Opening the doors for opportunity one student at a time,...
Origin of Certain Thoughts (Part II)
Continued from "Origin of Certain Thoughts, Part I"
If you haven’t experienced any near misses, you may have at least heard or read about them. When people describe their near misses, they say things such as “The bullet missed my heart by...
Taking Personal Stock
What's the difference between self-criticism and self-awareness? There's so much talk in the world about loving ourselves just the way we are. The idea is that we are each perfect and beautiful. It goes even further to say that in reference...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Toxic Friendships
This article is as much about life lessons as it is about toxic friendships. I learned an interesting truth about myself recently, and I just wanted to share it.
In this life, we are all here to learn lessons, and we will keep being presented with the opportunity to learn them until we get it right. One of the lessons I have to learn this time around is about the people I choose to let into my life. I used to be the kind of person who would let anyone into my life if they seemed to like me. I was emotionally needy. As I progressed, I thought that I was starting to get more discerning about this. I thought that I was learning to avoid people who were going to be negative influences and weigh me down. Some years ago, I had a friend who was a very toxic person. She was emotionally out of control, making very poor decisions and bringing a lot of negativity into my life. I made the decision to end the friendship. At the time, I attempted to do this gently, but she was very offended, and wrote me an 18-page letter, rambling and quite scary. It clearly illustrated to me that I had made a very poor decision by letting her into my life to begin with, and that I had done the right thing in cutting her loose. To be honest, I was rather pleased with myself for making the right decision. I had learned a valuable lesson! I was never going to get into that situation again! After practically wrenching my arm by patting myself on the back, on I went with my life.
About 7 years ago, I met a lady who would become my “best friend”. I gave her the keys to my kingdom, so to speak. I shared everything with her, and she with me, or so I thought. As time went on, I could clearly see that she had her own emotional baggage, but don’t we all? I certainly went through some tough times during our friendship, some of which I have shared with you in past issues. There were times that I was an emotional wreck. However, I did learn from these bad times. I grew, and moved on. I genuinely learned that I would be just as happy as I decide to be in this life. I choose to be happy here.
My friend, however, was stuck in a loop of depression, money problems and relationship unhappiness. I started to notice that she was always unhappy! Never did I talk to her and ask how she was that I got a
positive response. “Never” is a strong word that I do not use lightly here. I started to check out my observations with my husband, just to see if I was being judgmental. No, he assured me that what I saw was indeed the way it was.
Even at this point, I was not considering ending the friendship. I did spend a lot of time considering the possible ways to handle this problem. I literally spent months pondering the problem, and what might be the best way to eliminate the negativity without hurting my friend. Eventually I made the decision to just point out what I was hearing from her, as gently as possible, in an attempt to allow her to step back and take a look at what she was manifesting in her life.
Bad idea! It literally blew up in my face. What I got back was an acidic personal attack on my life, my personality, my financial status… it was very insulting. At first, I was shocked. Next, I was hurt. And then, I stopped and took a long hard look at the entire situation. When I did, I just had to laugh! I had done it again! I had allowed a person into my life that was toxic to me, knowingly, willingly and with my eyes wide open. So much for all that back-patting I had done all those years before. I had sprained my arm for nothing.
Lessons have a way of coming back to bite us in the butt when we only think we have learned them. The tricky part is that they don’t always come back in the same way. They disguise themselves. If we have really, truly learned the lesson we recognize them. If we only think we have learned the lesson, we will fall right into the trap again. I like to think now that I will be a lot more cautious the next time I am thinking of allowing someone into my energy as a friend. In reality, I can only hope. I do know that toxic people can come in many guises. They will suck up your energy, depress you, upset you and make your life harder. They can be family members, friends or co-workers. However, they can only do this if we let them.
An excellent book on this very subject is People Of The Lie by M. Scott Peck. I highly recommend it.
About the Author
Sibyl McLendon is the co-owner of Circle Of Grace, a unique blending of Native American spirituality and holistic wellness coaching. She is 1/2 Navajo, and lives in southwest Arizona.
|
|
|
|
|
| Spirituality.com: from the Christian Science Publishing Society |
| Christian Science Publishing Society presents spirituality.com -- practical spirituality and healing prayer explored through feature articles, ... |
| www.spirituality.com |
|
| Spirituality - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Spirituality, in a narrow sense, concerns itself with matters of the spirit. The spiritual, involving (as it may) perceived eternal verities regarding ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| SFT - December 2006 - Home Page |
| Spirituality for Today is an interactive monthly magazine dedicated to a variety of current themes and questions concerning the Christian faith in this ... |
| www.spirituality.org |
|
| Spirituality & Health |
| Ideas and advice about practices, products, self-tests, news and essays, and a virtual community dedicated to leading a more spiritually fulfilling and ... |
| www.spiritualityhealth.com |
|
| Indiatimes - Spirituality |
| You can consult our panel of experts on spiritual and mental probems. ... Jagjit Singh: Spirituality is a way of life I have faith in a Higher Power, ... |
| spirituality.indiatimes.com |
|
| NATIVE AMERICAN SPIRITUALITY |
| A general overview with quotes, essays, and links. |
| www.religioustolerance.org |
|
| NEW AGE SPIRITUALITY |
| In-depth article defines the New Age movement and some of the core beliefs, explains the traditions from which it is rooted, describes the confusions caused ... |
| www.religioustolerance.org |
|
| Spirituality - kabbalah inspiration prayer |
| Add inspiration to your life by discovering jewish spirituality, kabbalah and prayer on aish.com. Read a daily lift and be inspired. |
| www.aish.com |
|
| All Things Spiritual Directory |
| A searchable directory of thousands of spiritual and religious websites. Includes all major topic areas relating to spirituality and religion, ... |
| www.allspiritual.com |
|
| Holistic Spirituality -- Beliefnet.com |
| Holistic Spirituality Homepage. ... Holistic Spirituality. The Past Life of Your First Kiss. Interview by Laura Sheahen. With a new book on reincarnation, ... |
| www.beliefnet.com |
|
| Beliefnet.com |
| Features articles on God, faith, prayer, the nature of spirituality, society and ethics, with numerous resources. All religions respected. |
| www.beliefnet.com |
|
| Religion and Spirituality in the Yahoo! Directory |
| Yahoo! reviewed these sites and found them related to Religion and Spirituality. |
| dir.yahoo.com |
|
| About - Religion & Spirituality |
| Get information and resources on spirituality and world religions from Christianity to Islam to Judaism. Our religious experts offer insight on where ... |
| about.com |
|
| Spirituality |
| The Orthodox Church proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the Greek language, the word for Gospel is Evangelion which means literally "the good news. |
| www.goarch.org |
|
| reasoned spirituality a logical exploration of life |
| A philosophical exploration of spirituality, human behaviour, and the quest for the meaning of life. |
| www.reasoned.org |
|
| Spirituality - AllAboutSpirituality.org |
| Spirituality - Learn about the spirit world and why people are fascinated by mystical experiences. Discover a real and personal spirituality. |
| www.allaboutspirituality.org |
|
| Spirituality |
| The three foundational characteristics of spirituality are Faith, ... Join forces with others who have a healthy spirituality in their own lives. ... |
| www.coping.org |
|
| .:: Jesus : spirituality::. |
| This section of rejesus.co.uk focuses on prayer and meditation offering resources for daily prayer, learning about spirituality and a virtual labyrinth to ... |
| www.rejesus.co.uk |
|
| Science of Spirituality |
| An organization committed to a spiritual way of life based on meditation and service to others. News, events, and resources. |
| www.sos.org |
|
| Spirituality: See what people are saying right now on Technorati |
| See all blog posts tagged with spirituality on Technorati. |
| www.technorati.com |
|
|