Toxic People

Our world has a lot of toxic people, even those among our family, friends, and work colleagues. These individuals are constantly negative, and they tend to discourage those around them. Overall, their actions can impede the well-being of those closest to them, destroying relationships and causing harm to many. We all, at some point in time, have met or known a toxic person, and we may have experienced the harsh reality of having a person like that in our lives. They are often full of negativity and discouragement, constantly getting in the way of your potential and well-being.  You can get overwhelmed with just their interactions or their mere appearance in social gatherings. Their bad behavior is always noticeable and unwelcome, and friends and family are constantly disappointed when they are present. Somehow their behavior is tolerated because they are a close family member or friend. Even though we need to address their behavior, we seldom take the steps to act on our instinct for fear of reprisal. It is always important to address the problem and the person directly. Toxic people come in all shapes and forms: the meddler, gossip monger, or the annoying, nosy person.  We all have met them, seen them, and heard their malicious interruptions. Keeping one's distance from toxic people will no doubt be beneficial to one's mental health and well-being.

“Don’t associate yourself with toxic people. It’s better to be alone and love yourself than to be surrounded by people who make you hate yourself.” 

– Robin Williams

 “Letting go of toxic people in your life is a big step in loving yourself.” 

– Hussein Nishah

“It’s amazing how quickly things can turn around when you remove toxic people from your life.” – Robert Tew

“Toxic people attach themselves like cinder blocks tied to your ankles, and then invite you for a swim in their poisoned waters.” – John Mark Green

“I will not allow anyone to walk in my mind with dirty feet.” – Gandhi

“As important as it is to learn how to deal with different kinds of people, truly toxic people will never be worth your time and energy – and they take a lot of each. Toxic people create unnecessary complexity, strife, and, worst of all, stress.”

- Travis Bradberry

 “Stack all the rocks you want, but if you don’t let go of the toxic people and behaviors in your life, nothing will change.”
- Steve Maraboli

It is important to understand <span;><span;> “Stack all the rocks you want, but if you don’t let go of the toxic people and behaviors in your life, nothing will change.”
<span;>- Steve Maraboli</span;></span;></span;> behavior of a toxic person; they frequently bring negativity, stress, and most importantly, harm to those they affect. Their manipulative and narcissistic behavior is full of criticism, degrading, guilt-ridden, or just about any abuse targeting others. They tend to be self-centered and take zero responsibility for their actions, and they lack any form of empathy towards others. Individuals who behave this way are all about themselves and their needs; no one else matters to them but themselves. They would rather create or instigate a problem to satisfy their own enjoyment and desires. Social dynamics will often change when toxic people are present, they create an atmosphere that makes others uncomfortable. They will often overwhelm you with their complaints and negative worldview of just about everything. It is important to note that they have no personal boundaries, especially in respecting another person's personal space. The mere interactions with such people can lead to feelings associated with anxiety, stress, and sadness. We have all witnessed and experienced this at some point, and can attest to the discomfort that many feel. Sometimes, as much as you want to, it feels like you can't escape the situation. Overall an unhealthy environment created or saturated by a single person can and will overwhelm the well-being of all.

“We all have those toxic people around us that make our lives miserable… The day we take them out of our lives, we will all become better people; including them”

- Rodolfo Peon

“Toxic people don’t like when people see through them, so they’ll do all they can to make everyone else look like a monster.” – Nitya Prakash

“If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.”

– Michael Jordan

 “Don’t let toxic people infect you with the fear of giving and receiving one of the most powerful forces in this world – love!” – Yvonne Pierre

 “Cutting toxic people out of your life doesn’t mean you hate them, it simply means you respect yourself. Not everyone is meant to stay.” – Unknown

“If you walked away from a toxic, negative, abusive, one-sided, dead-end low vibrational relationship or friendship, you won.” – Lalah Delia

We cannot control the behavior of another person, what we can control is how we respond to their behavior. One can tolerate the behavior of a toxic person for a limited time; eventually, that behavior must be addressed. Toxic behaviors when left unchecked, will and can erode the trust of those impacted. It can no doubt lead to communication breakdowns, resulting in damaging relationships with friends and family, including romantic relationships. Once your sanity is compromised, this will reduce levels of happiness, propel negativity, and impede the personal growth of those affected. At what cost to hinder your health and well-being to accommodate a toxic person in your life? It is always best to seek support and help to address the impact of a toxic person on one's life. Family discussions can prove helpful, establish concrete, sustainable boundaries for the toxic person, and finally, their accountability is a key factor that must be addressed. Even though it might be difficult to distance oneself from a family member or close friend who is a toxic person, it would be best to limit your contact with them. It might help them eventually realise they are the problem, especially when people start to keep away from them. If a relationship is damaged beyond repair, and the only solution is to cut ties, then do what is best for your well-being and always protect yourself. Everyone needs to cleanse their system regularly; the same applies to ridding themselves of toxic people. Your peace of mind, body, and soul are far more important than sustaining or maintaining a relationship with a toxic person. 

 “Toxic people will pollute everything around them. Don’t hesitate. Fumigate.”

- Mandy Hale

“Entitlement is an expression of conditional love. Nobody is ever entitled to your love. You always have a right to protect your mental, emotional, and physical well-being by removing yourself from toxic people and circumstances.” 

– Dr. Janice Anderson and Kiersten Anderson

"Know your worth and please don't invest in toxic people or relationships, because any bond that requires servicing is not worth your time."

- Masaba Gupta

“Stay away from negative people. They have a problem for every solution.” 

― Albert Einstein

“A lot of the happiness or unhappiness in your life is a result of the people you’re surrounding yourself with. So develop the courage to let go of toxic people.”

― Karen Salmansohnn

 “Weeding out the harmful influences should become the norm, not the exception.” ― Carlos Wallace