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PJPITA's avatar

Excellent article. This goes for family too.

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Courtney Bowden's avatar

This is such a great article that I stumbled upon right when I needed to read it. Thank you.

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Jan Wright's avatar

Thank you for this insightful article on how to handle friendships that go wrong.

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dem's avatar

Excellent thank you

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Piers Eccleston's avatar

Many thanks for this great essay. I experienced a slightly different version of the examples you offer here, wherein I overheard my sister-in-law slating me to my wife. In this case, I guess we were people tied together by circumstances, with her behaving as an ally in my presence but secretly undermining me behind my back. So perhaps I was growing beyond my wife’s family system, but I feel it was more a case of a random event that forced me to grow after the fact. A cataclysmic revelation that I’m still coming to terms with three years later on. The pain you describe in your personal story felt very real to me and I’m grateful for your perspective

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Darshak Rana's avatar

Glad it resonated. Thanks for sharing your experience too. Growth rarely comes in a neat, planned way.

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JFunk's avatar

This assumes a zero sum game. Sometimes there are just bad friends who succeed where you don't despite their jealousy and your excellence. There are many other factors that contribute to failure and success. It doesn't feel good when people who have abused you succeed when you don't, but it's not a game.

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Tara Deacon's avatar

This is a really fantastic article!! Something people rarely talk about!! I really enjoyed my read thank you so much for sharing your personal experiences and also the tools you have learned from them!! This is going to help alot of people navigate friendships!! Including myself soooo thank you so much!!

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