People We Know

There are the people we are either born to or adopted by, and they are our family. Family isn’t always good to keep close on the whole or part depending on who they are to us. If they are abusive or dysfunctional or personality disordered, then the degree to which we keep them close or at a distance depends on how harmful their behaviors are to us. Then there are the school mates, neighbors, organizations, and coworker people for which the level of personal interaction depends and changes based on our level of growth and maturity, and on their level of functionality in not being abusers and/or victims in relation to us. School mates, neighbors, organizations, coworkers, and family can end up in the category of acquaintances. Acquaintances are people we know, but have limited interaction with and restricted access to our personal self. Friends are people from anywhere (family, etc.) that have full access to our personal self because we allow them in based on trust and mutual authentic interaction.

More times than not we confuse our acquaintances with our friends, but that is a mistake we at some point should outgrow for our own functional protection. Most of us end up with a spouse and resulting inherited family and offspring (see family). As a result of knowing people from all categories, we end up with foes. Whether friend or foe or the like, we have many “people” who inappropriately meddle in our lives, and if we are not careful, we in turn meddle in theirs.

Knowing who your real friends are versus acquaintances is vital for our self protection and growth. Take stock and discern who you should keep close, who you should keep far, and who you should walk away from going forward. It's not what anyone does for you, but what they do against you that is key. Toxic is toxic no matter the "trade off"!