Throughout the past two years, I've discovered how important it is to have a friend group that's incredibly supportive and lovely instead of being toxic and draining. Once I started having more positive friends in my life, it was easier to notice the negative people.
About a year ago, I exposed a family member for sexually assaulting me when I was younger and several other family members wanted to just sweep it under the rug, rather than actually dealing with the situation.
This taught me the importance of removing toxic people from my life. Why should I spend any time with someone who doesn't want the best for me and my future? What's the point of that kind of fake relationship?
Toxic people can take many forms. It could be someone who's physically abusive or a bully. There are varying levels of toxicity, but they deserve no place in your life (unless they're willing to work on themselves). Unfortunately, my family members weren't able to work on themselves and their emotional limitations so it didn't make sense to have them in my life anymore. Especially, why should I have anyone in my life who doesn't believe my sexual assault experience? That's incredibly invalidating and emotionally insensitive.
If someone cares about you AT ALL, they will be willing to work on themselves to try to fix the problems in the relationship. If they are unwilling, then it could mean they are a toxic person or don't deserve a place in your life.
Toxic people can be really difficult to handle and everyone has known their fair share. However, just because someone is toxic doesn't mean you should totally write them off. Sometimes, confrontation is a great approach because they might not be totally aware of what they're doing. If they don't change or refuse to admit they're in the wrong, drop those motherf*ckers.