Take a tally of all of the positive forces you’ve put in place: meditation, exercise, healthy eating, tea, art, positive thinking…hopefully, it’s a long list. You may still feel bogged down, and that’s okay because there are ups and downs: that’s life. However, you should still examine any environment in which you feel unsettled. Particularly the people around at the time.
We came across this thoughtful article on Business Insider in which Gary Vaynerchuck, CEO of a multi-million dollar company, bluntly describes why people should cut toxic relationships in all forms out of their lives. This is a harsh fact to face, but the truth is that you are highly luckily to be in better health mentally and physically, as succinctly outlined by Forbes, if you prune useless relationships out of your life.
By useless, we refer to what are known as bad or toxic relationships. A challenging friendship or work partnership, one in which you are pushed to do your best, isn’t the same thing. We’re not talking about taking the easy road, we’re 
talking about focusing on what’s healthy. Analyze your questionable relationships by considering what you get out of them. If you dread spending time with a friend because they make you feel bad about yourself, that’s a sign that you’re wasting your time. If your friend makes you feel uncomfortable because she calls you out on your laziness or for getting in the way of your own success, that’s likely a friend worth hanging on to with everything you’ve got. If you feel constantly jealous of your friend for his successes and that makes you feel bad, you might be the toxic one in that relationship. Read these articles by Psychology Today and Time for many more examples of relationships to be weary of.
Avoid making excuses for those in your life who hurt you. You can slowly limit the amount of time you spend on certain people, as per Gary Vaynerchuck’s advice, or cut them out immediately. You can choose to have a confrontation, but you aren’t obligated. Keep in mind that there are many negative people in our world who don’t understand the effects of their anger, jealousy, or what they may call “just being realistic”. If the source of wasted interaction is at work or part of your family, you can still take steps to limit the time spent in their presence and focus on preventing their toxic ideologies from ruining your day. Here are some truly lovely ideas from Email about how to calmly handle negative interactions with difficult people.
A good way to judge whether a relationship is valuable to you is to resist the urge to check in with someone who you doubt supports you. Even if it’s just for 24 hours. Now ask yourself: do you miss their presence? If not, that’s a sure sign you should re-evaluate how much effort you put into maintaining this friendship, romance, or family dynamic.
Need a quick and easy way to clear your mind? Take a Mandalas4You workshop and learn how this simple artistry can support your mental health in no time flat. Contact us to book a timeslot for you and your friends, or to join another program. Open to all ages and stages of life!