Week Three: The Importance of Close Company

“Everything depends on what you rub up against!”-Xunzi

I feel like we all know that who we surround ourselves by is important. It not only affects what we do when we are hanging out in a social setting with friends, but also how we feel and our mindset. I have been around negative people before and I had to cut myself off from them because I could feel myself becoming more negative. I’m generally a positive person so this shift in mindset was very unlike me. Once I realized my mind set was shifting, I distanced myself from the negativity. Forming this boundary is a hard thing to do, especially in middle school and high school. We’re all very concerned with trying to fit in, even if it means losing ourselves. Thankfully, I feel that as we mature, this sense of needing to fit in goes away for most people. We find our worth and our value and realize that nobody is worth sacrificing ourselves for. Once we come to that realization, we find our true friends.

I also feel like it is important to to recognize the effect that people we surround ourselves with has on our mental health. I find that if I’m surrounding myself with negative people, my depression and anxiety are more likely to pop up. I am pretty empathetic so when I am taking on the negative emotions of those around me, I can get really bogged down. Not only do I feel the stress of wanting to help this person with their negative emotions, I also feel the need to take on their negative emotions. I feel that it is my responsibility to help them find the good, even though that responsibility is on them, not me. It can be really exhausting and draining. I do recognize that if I choose to keep this person in my life, I can be there to help them navigate their emotions but it isn’t my job to make them go away.