by Sandie Mcgary

Created on: October 24, 2010

We all have them, the "friends" that constantly put you down or disrespects you every chance they get. It comes to a point where you have to step back and look at the foundation of your friendship and decide whether it is advantageous to you to continue that relationship. It seems in this day and age that respect is a thing of the past, most people are only in it for whatever might benefit them and their situations. Most of the time that means that anyone can be a moving target regardless of how close of a friend you might think you are. 

However some relationships are worth saving, it is just up to you to determine which one that might be. If your friend is always degrading you because of your weight, the way you look or dress, then obviously this person focuses on vanity and material things. That is truly someone that does not warrant a friendship from you. By allowing someone to disrespect you in that manner gives them power over you. It is usually best to send them on their way and no longer have contact with them.

We as people build connections to others to help us through our lives, whether it be with a mentor, a best friend, a spouse or lover or a family member. It is imperative to our mental, physical and emotional health to have these connections. When someone you trust with this special connection violates that trust by disrespecting you repetitively you tend to lose faith in trust. By losing the ability to trust people you ultimately set yourself up for a multitude of health and emotional issues.  Which makes the question of distancing yourself from those that repeatedly disrespect you very easy to answer. Of course.

The difficulties endured by relieving yourself of a pesky friend are generally over come within days, allowing the realization that life is slightly easier without them around. You will finally begin to remember that you have self worth and that you are an intelligent person that can take care of themselves without the help of someone disrespecting you at all times. Some may feel that removing someone from your life is not the answer. My question is how long do you let the disrespect go on before taking appropriate action. You can talk to them, explain the things they do hurt you, upset you, but when they promise to not do it again but a week later is right back to where you started. What do you do then? How many times do you need to speak to them before it becomes apparent that they will not change. How long will it take before you realize that you can not change someone to fit your needs. In my experience, it is just best to end the friendship or relationship before too much damage can be done.

Learn more about this author, Sandie Mcgary.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.