Prioritizing Friends

Toxic Friendships

Unfortunately, not all friends are created equal. In fact, some of the people we call our friends may be doing us more harm than good. Toxic friendships can affect your mental health and build unhealthy dependencies. Friends are the support network that you cultivate around yourself. So, as you continue to build and nurture your friendships, make sure that you focus your time on the friends support you without expecting anything in return. In other words, the friends who love you for you.

Circles of Friends

You have probably already noticed this by now, but there are some friends that you share a deeper bond with than others. That’s totally fine! In fact, it’s great. Depending on your mutual interests, hobbies, etc., you will connect with some people on a deeper level.

I look at my friends in three concentric circles. I have my BFF Circle, my Inner Circle, and my Acquaintances. The BFF circle is the smallest circle. It’s three people and these are the people that I trust and rely on more than anyone else. One layer out is the Inner Circle. This is where I categorize a handful of my friends who really know me and have my back, and vice versa. Finally, the last circle is the Acquaintance Circle. I know acquaintance sounds very distant but they are not distant for any negative reason. These are still people I like and consider my friends but out interests and passions just aren’t aligned.

These circles help to distinguish which friends I want to spend the most time with and the types of activities we do together. For example, I may call or invite friends in my Inner and BFF circles over for a movie but I wouldn’t invite anyone in my Acquaintance circle.