Season 2 Episode 3 - Is It Time to Let A Friendship Go?
Welcome back to the TOUGH LOVE ENERGY podcast.
In this week’s podcast we are exploring our friendships. The good ones and those we need to let go of! This is a hard topic because none of us ever want to contemplate having to let friendships go. It feels unkind and even cruel but the truth is often it can be the kindest thing we do for them and for us.
In this episode I talk about what happens when we release the people pleaser in ourselves and do everything in our power to make ourselves indispensable to our friends, in the hope that they won’t leave us. I did this and it didn’t end well!
Letting go of friendships is hard. At some point, you may feel that you and a friend just don't connect anymore, you might find that you have less in common or even feel that they're treating you differently and are taking from your life rather than adding to it. Similar to a romantic relationship, you may know that it’s no longer working for you, but when the time comes to end the friendship, to ‘break up’, it can be next to impossible to do. Why is that?
So, what does friendship really mean? I talk about what it means for me, how I know what a true friendship looks like now and more importantly how it feels like.
I resisted letting friends go until I realised it was actually quite healthy. People come into our lives for a reason, a season or a lifetime we just need to get better knowing which is which.
We also look at those friendships that are not good for us – the toxic ones – and how to recognise when they show up in your life.
This is not an easy topic I get that. I still find it hard but I’ve recognised that by removing people who take from me all of the time I am creating space for those who know also how to give and that makes it something worth doing.
We crave connection and to build a network around us. We may have different groups of friends that serve different purposes and that can be a really positive thing to have, but the reality is that sometimes friendships can just change. In the long run, it's much better to cut ties, and to find people who truly appreciate and support you, as you are, right now.
To help I share with you my top five signs to watch out for that might indicate a friendship needs to be released. I’ll be interested to see which of these resonate with you.
Our friendships should, by definition, make us feel better, but if you find that every time you've been with a certain friend, or friends, you feel worse afterward, then you really need to explore why this is happening. This episode I hope will inspire and encourage you to do just that.
You can connect with me over on Instagram here and over in my free Facebook community, The Changing Room, here. And if you haven’t yet taken my free People Pleasing Quiz, you can do that here.
Until next time, much love,
Niamh x