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There comes a point in our lives where a new person enters and an old one leaves. Sometimes these people become our friends. Sometimes they become family, or coworkers, or acquaintances. Whatever the reason, they enter our lives and they teach us. And when the time is over, they leave our lives. Sometimes by your choice, sometimes by theirs, and sometimes by no ones choice – it just happens.
It turns out these people affect our lives in numerous ways. Those that are positive provide positivity to your life. They bring you happiness, comfort, and love. Those that are negative provide negativity to your life. They cause you to be stressed, angry, and overall unhappy. You find yourself getting irritated with them far more frequently than excited or pleased to be with them. They often disappoint you or leave you stranded (emotionally or physically). They may be selfish and expect your life to revolve around theirs, even though they can support themselves just fine.
And these people can be anyone: Your family, best friend, coworker, or spouse.
As I’ve been continuing on my journey I’ve begun to reevaluate those in my life. Just as I’m building simplicity in my home to aid in happiness, I’ve decided I want happiness in my relationships as well. When I found out last Monday that my long time companion (my cat, Max, who is 14) has a rare form of cancer and there’s nothing that can be done at this point, I quickly figured out who was worth keeping in my life. I’ve had people popping up that I haven’t spoken to in quite a long time providing me support. I’ve had coworkers offering me a shoulder to lean on and checking up on me on a daily basis. And my significant other has been very supportive during all of this.
But on the flip side, many of the people I had thought were good and close friends of mine have proven to be the opposite over time (these are people that have, in the past, been unreliable, selfish, or overall just negative influences on my life before this incident occurred). In this particular instance, I’ve not heard from them, seen them, or felt any form of support. It’s a sad feeling when those you thought were closest to you become nonexistent during a rough patch.
As a result, I’ve reconnected with those I know to be positive and I’m eliminating those that bring only negativity. It’s been an incredibly hard process, but I do not want negativity in my life anymore. I’ll continue to be polite, as needed, with these people for the duration they’re in my life, but I will no longer let their actions affect me. I will no longer go out of my way to see these people. I’m no longer wasting my time, energy, and happiness on these people who do not feel I’m worthy of the same.
To these people I say thank you for the life lessons, and I hope your journey in life continues to be a happy and fulfilling one, but you will no longer be a part of my journey.
Maybe today should be the day you reevaluate the company you keep.
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