Get rid of toxic friends!

I have always thought you should be kind to everyone you meet, but lately I am having a hard time doing it. It is easier for me to be kind to the person driving the car that just cut me off or the annoying woman taking forever in front of me in the checkout lane or the person who cut in front of me while waiting for a taxi, than it is for me to continue to be nice to people who call themselves friend or neighbor and constantly irritate me.

I am finding there are some people I simply cannot deal with any longer like the friend/neighbor that is totally oblivious to my pain. They believe they are the only one that has pain and troubles.  I have to apply the lesson that I have preached for years that some people must be loved from a distance and you must get them out of your life.

These people are insensitive and rude to me and they may not even realize it. Their cry for help manifests itself as selfishness, closed-mindedness, anger, insecurity, rudeness, disinterest and malice. I tried to rationalize it was simply a cultural difference, but I can no longer do that. They bring nothing positive to my life!

I am ready to cut out of my life people that continue to be phonies and I cannot trust. I am getting too old to waste time with those who do not understand honesty and loyalty. Mean people who do not disguise themselves as nice I can tolerate. I have come to realize it is better to have an enemy that slaps you in the face than friends that stabs you in the back.

If you're not careful, toxic people can negatively influence the way you think, feel, and behave. They can introduce unnecessary stress into your life and cause chaos that will drag you down. This family has certainly done that for me.

I have a friend/neighbor that I am constantly grumbling and complaining about to my caregiver every time they contact me or their name is mentioned. My talking about these toxic people  when they're not around gives them more power over my life than I am any longer willing to give them.

Every time someone tells me something these gossipers and master manipulators have said about me strong emotions are stirred up. Stress, frustration and rage follows. These toxic friends can get the best of me and cause me to lose control of my emotions.

I no longer want to spend time blaming them for the toxic relationship. My attempts at placing blame have made me realize these toxic people have too much power over me. I now accept personal responsibility for how I spend my time and whom I spend it with. I felt an obligation to put up with them before because I am a retired priest, but no more.

My feeling of dread waiting for them to text or visit consumed a lot of my time and energy.  Christmas is now approaching and I know they will be contacting me to wish me merry Christmas and to tell me how much they miss and love me. This is their routine thinking it will warrant a gift for their grandchild. They also do this around their birthdays, etc. I actually had bought the grandchild a present in preparation for this Christmas, but then today I was told about a nasty remark the husband had made about me and I gave the gift to another child.

I had decided sometime back if I could not beat them, I would just join them. I thought I would accept their behavior even though it was not in accordance with my values. It seemed to be the last resort, but it wasn’t an effective coping strategy. Ultimately, it only created more chaos in my life.

Their manipulative and aggressive tactics made it difficult to set healthy boundaries. When things were not going the way they wanted they would reminded me, “We love you like family, but you will not accept us as family.” I then always felt it was my fault. Without healthy boundaries, it is impossible to protect myself emotionally from their grasp.

I was always in a bad mood after any contact with them. Even thinking of a possible upcoming contact with them upset me. Their unhealthy behavior caused my relationships with others to suffer.

I have decided no longer wasting my time thinking about them will not be enough - I must cut them out of my life. It does not matter how I end the relationship I will be perceived as "mean".  I have been patient long enough.

The husband is like a venomous snake in the grass. He smiles at me when face to face and lies about me when with others and he lies to me about what others say about me. One such occasion was last Easter. The neighborhood chapel does the stations of the cross. There was no reason for him to tell me, but he said when they met the neighbors did not want to have one of the stations at my house and he pleaded with them to do so. I ask him why they would not want to come to my house and he claimed he did not know, but he begged them to change their minds. His parting words were, “Father, I will always have your back.” It upset me and I contacted one of the men on the chapel committed and he told me that it never happened. The man wanted the station placed at his house and requested it be placed there instead of my house. 

Today, I learn that he said if they came to my house to Christmas Carol, a Philippine tradition, he would not come.  Again if he did not want to come to my house he did not have to come, but he did not have to say anything to anyone, just don't come.  He took the opportunity to say something in order to speak negatively about me or cause people to wonder why he did not want to come to my house. Consequently they made the rounds last night and they did not come to my house. 

This is the same man that I paid $1000 to have dental surgery performed on him and dentures made because he was covering his mouth when he smiled because he was embarrassed about his teeth.

These are the same people that I paid the balance of three hospital bills when they did not have the funds to pay them. These are the same people that their son could not register in the private school he attends for the upcoming year because they had a balance from the previous year and I paid off the balance, plus the tuition for the next year and for his books.

I have learned that it is not a good thing to have as many friends as possible, especially when you are buying friendship! They had the advantage over me from the very start of our relationship. I was a foreigner in their world. I had no family or friends and they immediately moved in and took advantage of the situation. I bought into their saying they wanted to “be family”. I now realize they do not get along that well with their own family, so maybe they do treat me like family. I have commented to my caregiver several times I would not waste my time with people like them in the United States and I did not understand why I was doing it here. Desperation for friends I suppose. But, believe me when I say quality is more important than quantity when it comes to friendships.

Relationships should be balanced. It's perfectly normal to ask for help from your friends from time to time. In fact, helping others is one of the best ways to increase your happiness and positivity after 50. But, that doesn't mean that it's your job to solve everyone else's problems.

I do not need friends that make me feel like they hang out with me because of what I can do for them and not what I mean to them? I said earlier I dread receiving calls from them because I know their contacts always come with a request. I do not need or want friends that any contact with them leads to drama.

I am sure cutting my ties with them will for the short term bring some negative emotions like anxiety, guilt, grief, but it will in the long term bring relief.  Do not do as I did and tolerate for eight years a relationship that does not make you feel good or contributes to your wellbeing. We all have the right not to engage in toxic relationships. Today I got a new telephone number and they will not get the number.

Today is the first day of a new beginning when it comes to them and me. I finally realize they only made me a lesser version of myself and I want to be all that I can be. Pray that I will listen to my brain and not my heart and give in and stay the course.

What makes you happy?

Do you even know what would make you happy? A lot of people believe if only I had this or that I would be happy or happier. I can guarantee you getting the right stuff will not make you happy or happier. Just look at the movie stars who are extremely wealthy.  Daily we read of their unhappiness, drug abuse, relationship failures and bad choices.  Then look at people in Third World countries that have little to nothing and they are smiling and happy. The people in the Philippines are a good example that you can be poor and be happy.  

The people around you have more to do with your happiness than money or material goods. If you want to experience unhappiness and depression surround yourself with unhappy and negative people. You will soon become unhappy, negative and discontent.

I have been at the bedside of many people who were dying. I have never heard one person ask a family member or friend to bring their expensive automobile to the parking lot so they could gaze upon it from the hospital window. I have often heard them request friends or family members to contact a loved one so they could spend a few last moments with them.

Have you noticed that happy people are most likely people who are at peace with God? I believe anything that undermines your peace with God will eventually make you unhappy. Peace with God allows you to be at peace with yourself and others. Jesus said the greatest command is love God, self and one another. Love gives you the capacity to be peaceful and extend peace to others. People love peaceful people and avoid trouble makers. It may be hard to believe, but if you are at peace with God and self you can remain at peace when you are being persecuted.

Some people have come to believe that you cannot be happy and serve God. I can assure you serving God will not stand in the way of anyone being happy. God created us to be happy. God is the way to happiness. Sinful pleasure separates us from God and others and will eventually bring unhappiness to us and others. Sinful pleasures may bring temporary happiness, but not lasting happiness.

People who depend on God are happy. People who believe God is in control of all their circumstances are happy. If you think you control the outcome of your life then you are sadly mistaken. My father thought he was financially secure and if something happen to him he had prepared for us to be financially secure. In 1957 his health began to deteriorate rapidly. The last days of his life cost us nearly $300,000 now keep in mind it was 1957 and 1958 not 2015. They did an experimental heart surgery replacing a valve in his heart with the valve of a pig. His last eleven days were spent begging my mother to let him die before she used up all the saving trying to keep him alive.

Some people allow the fear of dying to rob them of an opportunity to live. We must accept death as a part of life just as we accept birth as a part of life. There is no reason for those who believe in Jesus Christ to fear death. I am in the final stages of heart failure. I do not know how much longer I have, but I am determined the fear of death is not going to rob me of living what time I have left to the fullest. I no longer pray for healing, but I do pray for comfort in order to continue to serve God and others.

Meekness is your having the correct evaluation of you. Unfortunately today many have come to view meekness as weakness. Meek people can deal with the realities of life. They accept the valuation that God has of them. They strive to accomplish what God called them to do and do not strive to do more than they have the ability to do. Meek people are happy people.

Happy people do the right thing even when no one is looking. They do the right thing even if it cost them. Eventually doing the wrong things in life will catch up with you and you will regret them. Happiness follows moral decisions and unhappiness follows immoral decisions – always.

Generous people are happy people. God created us to serve and to give. Joy comes from helping others.  Our financial model should be to give, save and then spend the rest.

We reap what we sow. Farmers plant seeds, but they do not become plants the next morning, it takes time. Happiness takes time and it is a process. Foolishly some people plant bad seeds and because nothing happens immediately they think they have gotten away with their immorality.

There is a relationship between money and happiness, but the relationship is not how much money you have. The relationship between money and happiness is what you do with your money. The relationship you have with your money is what is important. Money in itself is not evil, but what you do with your money can be evil.

In today’s society our chief competition with our love of God is our love of money. It is impossible for both to be our master or to be number one in our lives. Our human nature leads us to want what we do not have. Greed is the result of mismanaging our money and trying to keep it all for ourselves. Greed can also be the results of fearing we will lose our money or need it at a later date and this leads us not to be charitable. This fear demonstrates a lack of faith in God to provide.

Debt makes us a slave to money. The more debt we have the more money we need to pay the debt and take care of our daily needs at the same time. Debt can easily rob you of your peace and happiness. We have all purchased things that we did not really need and later regretted it. Debt is the number one cause of divorces and relationships ending. I do not suggest that anyone get rid of all their credit cards, but I strongly suggest you manage your use of them wisely. For the past ten years I have not had one single credit card or bought one item on credit. I have chosen to wait until I had the money to pay for the purchase in cash and I assure you I am much happier. I also have more because I do not have interest payments.

You have more control of your happiness than anyone else. You can choose to be around positive people, you can choose to use your money wisely, you can choose to put God first in your life, you can choose to always do the right thing, and you can choose to be a reconciler and peacemaker.

Being unhappy can lead us to making bad choices because we are looking for a quick fix. Do not make major decisions when you are unhappy. There are no quick fixes in life.  Immoral pleasure is more tempting when we are unhappy so always prioritize your happiness over pleasure.

As long as you are always about you then you are not going to be happy. You are not enough to make yourself happy. We need God and others in our lives. We need good relationships. We need to share what we have with others. We need to be available to serve God and others.

I have heard it said a thousand times, “I do not have time to volunteer or serve.” I am telling you today you need to make time for serving others. Service will bring you true peace, joy and happiness.  God created us to give, serve and mentor. Selfishness may come natural, but that was not part of God’s plan for our lives.  Giving and serving are important life lessons to teach our children.

Jesus Christ gave his life for you! What have you freely givne to others? Learn to make sacrifices of your time and finances and happiness will follow!