At some point in our lives, we encounter someone who we label as toxic. Sometimes it’s a boyfriend, girlfriend, friend, coworker, parent, sibling or relative.

Maybe this person lied to you, cheated on you, hurt you or wronged you in some way. The emotions are too much to handle, and you decide you never want to see that person again. Your only choice is to cut him or her out of your life for good.

Once you make that decision, the first step is to block his or her number on your phone. Then, you unfriend or remove the person from all social media accounts. Lastly, you delete any memories the two of you had together. You create a clean slate for yourself.

That sounds intense, right? Possibly a little dramatic depending on the situation.

This is the process we go through when we feel the need to rid ourselves of someone who is no good. I’ve been there and made the decision to cut someone out. It’s absolutely necessary at times. We are only doing what we think is best for ourselves and our mental health.

We are just thinking about ourselves, but is that always right?

Do we ever stop to think that maybe this isn't the best solution?

Am I going too far?

Am I hurting someone else in the process of protecting myself?

I never considered how the other person might feel until I was cut out of a ‘friend’s’ life for no reason. There was no explanation for why I was removed from this person’s life.

It was as if it happened overnight, and a switch was turned off in the person’s mind. The switch that controlled whether we were friends or not.

This person claimed to be cutting everyone out. I was told this as if it was to comfort me, but it made the situation worse.

It was a lie.

I was the only one being cut out.

At first, I was shocked and confused. I couldn’t think of what I did wrong to deserve this treatment. It’s one of those things that messes with your brain because you can’t stop thinking about it until it drives you crazy.

Eventually, I let it go. I stopped asking why and stopped blaming myself. There was nothing I could do.

Sometimes, cutting people out of your life is not the right decision. When you cut good people out, you lose the opportunity to fix or build a relationship.

You miss out on the chance to grow as a person by forgiving someone and moving on. Cutting people out can be the cowardly decision at times.

Everyone is human and makes mistakes. People hurt each other over and over.

We need to accept that people are not perfect. You are not perfect, and I am not perfect. I am just as guilty as the person who cut me out.

Maybe it is us who is at fault sometimes and not the person we cut out. Maybe we need to take a long look in the mirror. Maybe we are cutting people out because we only care about ourselves.

Maybe there is no such thing as a toxic person, and it's all in our heads.

It is possible we only want to push people away.

What good does that do? What are the perks of isolating yourself from everyone?

If we continue to cut good people out of our lives, we just might wake up one day and realize we have no one.