Broken heart
Did you see my blog post about toxic relationships?
Did you relate to any of the signs?
If you did, I want you to know two things:
1. You’re not alone.
2. You can breath a sigh of relief.
I know what you’re thinking:
A sigh of relief? Why?
Because you now know one of the top reasons smart people stay in bad relationships: they don’t realize the relationship is toxic in the first place.
Curious about 2 of the other top reasons good people stay in bad situations? Read on:
1. Fear of being alone. When I was a teenager, I was petrified of being alone. I went from one relationship to the next, dating people I didn’t love because I liked the feeling of being alone with myself even less. I hated feeling lonely and empty – so I used other people to fill that void. Unfortunately, as you might guess, it didn’t work. It wasn’t fair to me and it wasn’t fair to them. In fact, using someone like that was one way I contributed to making my relationships toxic.
2. Fear of the unknown. Have you ever known with every fiber of your being it was time for a change – but avoided it anyway? About 10 years ago, a friend of mine, Kristen, told me about some major challenges she was having at work. She felt vastly unfulfilled and bored much of the time and her co-workers didn’t treat her well. Kristen didn’t value herself very highly, so she stayed at the job for over 4 years despite the challenges and negative, draining energy. When she was passed over for 2 promotions she clearly deserved, she finally started searching for something else. Can you guess what happened? Within 3 weeks, Kristen found a job making twice as much that also leveraged her many unique talents and experiences. She felt much better about herself and, as a result of working in a new office with friendly, supportive coworkers and a wonderful, new boss her energy levels returned and her anxiety and insomnia disappeared. Kristen’s only regret? Waiting so long to make a change.
So there you have it: 3 reasons smart people stay in toxic relationships. Now I want to ask:
Have you ever found yourself in one of these situations?
I hope you enjoyed today’s article. Are you interested in finding out how to cut the toxicity in your relationships in half? If so, make sure to keep reading my blog!