Toxic Relationship Rant
Story Time…
So I had gone out about a couple weeks ago and I ended up being in the middle of a struggle. This guy kept trying to talk to me and my friend blah blah blah usual story when you go out. He kept saying stuff like I throw brunches and rooftop parties you and your friend should come ya'll will fit perfectly with the vibe blah blah blah. Then he goes, let me get your number etc., and I'm like no I don’t give my number out (classic line right!) but you can follow me on social media. So as he takes my phone out my hand a girl walks up and introduces herself and then turns to him and said, "hey babe here's your drink" she hands him a red bull. Then he introduces me and my friend to her and says, "oh this is my girlfriend", and then she walked away as if she didn’t just catch her boyfriend trying to talk to me. My friend and I literally looked at each other like did that really just happen?? Fast forward about 30 minutes later she came back up to us apologized and then began to spill out her heart, but before she could even get to all the details we stopped her and told her she had nothing to apologize for. If anything she should be enraged, like HELLO you just caught your boyfriend trying to talk to another girl. (I swear I don’t ask to be in these situations, the struggle just always finds me) As we were talking to her I could notice her eyes were watering and she was literally holding back tears.
On the way home in the Uber I kept thinking about how toxic her situation was. It reminded me of a few of my past experiences. She was me back in the day. When you're in situations where you are constantly being humiliated and lied, to your confidence gets stripped away little by little. You also become paranoid and it can result in you being a little aggressive. You begin judging yourself, and eventually you feel like your not good enough. That was her in that moment, that was a past version of me, and that’s a lot of people right now.
Eventually you get to a breaking point, or if your lucky enough to have a good circle of friends they help pull you out. I wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone, but looking back it's a good lesson. Don’t get me wrong it’s brutal, but it teaches you so much about yourself. You learn what you will and wont put up with. In a sense it forces you to be stronger for yourself. Plain, and simple.
Honestly, there was no real purpose of this post. It wasn’t to dive into what toxic relationships are, or how to detect the signs or even bounce back from it. I just wanted to touch on the fact that I had a brief encounter with a complete stranger and I was able to see a past version of myself in her. It made me really think about how somebody can really strip you down and leave you looking in the mirror at a complete stranger. But it also reminded me that the process of building yourself back up is monumental. And a supportive group of friends is the icing on the cake!