Stepping away from a friend group
I’ve been contemplating stepping away from the friend group I made at work. I don’t find interacting with them enriching and I always feel drained after hanging out with them. They do a lot of gossiping and talking about people which I’m not comfortable sitting through anymore, I feel like I have grown too old to be craving drama and messy relationships and situations.
I feel like we’ve maintained a pretty ideal image of a friendship outwardly but I’m beginning to feel some underlying envy and sense a lot of backstabbing going on. The facade is slowly breaking but it feels like I’ve checked out of the whole friend group dynamic a long time ago.
I have doubts and second thoughts, mostly on how it may in a way negatively impact the progress of my career but the more time I spend away from them, the more relieved I am. No anxiety, no dealing with backhanded compliments, no reading between the lines. Spending time with other people has also made me realize how mature, self-aware and consistent other people can be. I don’t want to make it look like I’m abruptly pushing them away but I really do feel like cutting them off from my life for good.
Sounds healthy that you're doing what's best for you. It just might have to be worded diplomatically.
Although this friendship group has been valuable, unfortunately some things in my personal life have cropped up and I need to focus on that for a while..
Something where they might not feel as snubbed but of course, it's up to you and you'll make the right decision :)
@ScrabbleBrain Thank you for this. I don’t know how to best express it yet, but that is the intention.
@brightSpring4247 No problem, you're being brave :)
@brightSpring4247
I can tell you have thought about it carefully and are well aware of what the implications might be. It’s geat that you have watched yourself and understand what do you want. I believe it’s important to stay true to yourself.
Just like ScrableBrain said, being thoughtful in expressing yourself might help a lot. Like avoid making them feel not good enough for you or judged. Also, you seem strong enough to not break if few unfriendly comments is thrown your way. If they can hurt you with those, then they will not get used to having fun out of it.
