toxic

Last summer I went on a camping trip with an old friend. We had not seen each other in several years, but had stayed in touch via phone and email. It didn’t take me long to realize that it was going to be a long weekend. Every opportunity she had to speak was spent either talking about herself or putting down others. After the first day, I became increasingly quiet and by the end of our trip I was silent. We got along fine I suppose, however it was only because I knew that challenging her was futile.

I have not contacted her since we returned.

There is a thought that circles around my head from time to time as a result of this experience...you should most likely feel better for spending time with your friends...at the end of the day, if you are worse off for having spent time in their presence then you should probably reevaluate the friendship.

I was recently reminded of this, after several encounters with a friend who engages in gossip.

One of my posts this month mentioned that I’ve become more aware of the food that I put into my body as a means to attaining better health. It occurred to me that the encounters we have with the people who surround us are also “food.” That is something I will be mindful of moving forward.