3 Reasons Why You Should Keep Difficult People in Your Life

You could get rid of them, but that’s just lazy.

Photo by Farzan Lelinwalla on Unsplash. I chose this photo because cats are also difficult but worth it.

I used to try pretty hard to free my life from difficult people.

I’ll even shamefully admit that I’ve ghosted a close friend or two when they became a bit too much for me to deal with.

I’m here to tell you that I was wrong.

The combination of avoidance, ghosting, and my old favorite standby — silent suffering is in many ways the easiest strategy for dealing with difficult people.

It is also the laziest.

And it stunted my growth.

(I am under five feet, so we didn’t have much to work with from the get-go.)

So for the last few years, I’ve been intentionally tackling difficult people in my life, like a beefy football player on steroids — with close friends and, uh, my therapist cheerleading me from the sidelines.

Just kidding — more like, I’ve been gingerly easing myself into the uncomfortable zone of sticking it out when people frustrate me.

Why? I’m getting older, and decided it was high time for me to put on my big girl panties, take some (self) growth hormones and practice techniques to bring a healthier dynamic to my relationships.