You can have a handful of friends or a million. Some people thrive when they’re the center of attention, while others need two to three people who always have their back. It doesn’t matter whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, though. If you’ve had a toxic relationship, cutting them loose meant learning so many things about yourself and the behavior of people around you.
Why don’t you share what you’ve learned with others who might be dealing with toxic behavior as well?
Write About It
You don’t need to graduate any degree to turn your experiences into a book. With the help of book-publishing companies, you can reach readers far and wide and tell them how to spot toxic friends before they do severe damage to one’s life. Take your personal experiences and turn them into essential lessons and checklists for everyone else. Your goal is to not just heal from your experience but to also prevent toxic people from using others for their selfish benefit. Writing about your experiences will also help you put it to rest. Some people take years to move on from a toxic relationship, and writing about it might be that final push.
Offer a Helping Hand
Not everyone wants to be a public hero, of course. If writing is not for you but you still want to help, look for places that need volunteers. The sad reality is that there are so many people out there who don’t know they are in a toxic relationship. Some are stuck in one but don’t know how to get out. Then, there are the people who are having a hard time figuring out how to move on from the aftermath. Toxic relationships break a person, and they need you to be there to tell them they’re going to be okay. Even if you can give them a shoulder to cry on or you can spare a few hours to listen to them, that’s plenty.
Stay Close to Home
Sometimes, you’re most needed at home. People who grow up in an unhealthy environment might follow the same pattern, and this is a cycle you can help stop. If you know someone who is showing signs of being in a toxic environment, reach out to them and offer to help. Know that their situation might be delicate and leaving abruptly might not work for their best interest, but you can help them slowly break free from the relationship. Especially if there are children involved, you’ll want to handle the situation delicately to avoid any permanent damage to kids. Even your children might be in toxic friendships, and you can help them see that they deserve to be treated better.
You’ve been through dark times, and your self-worth might have been affected by it. A toxic relationship, regardless of whether it’s platonic or romantic, is not a good place to be in. Now that you’ve gotten over your ordeal, do your best to help other people break out of theirs.
