Sometimes, your family can treat you in a manner that’ll leave you questioning whether or not you’re related to them. That’s the painful reality about most family relationships. Unfortunately, dealing with a toxic family member isn’t always the easiest. While blogs like TurtleQuote are a great source of inspiration if you’re looking for quotes about toxic family members. But you can always do more to protect yourself from such family members. This article will discuss how to handle toxic family members.
Set Boundaries
Toxic family members can be manipulative. They know how and when to invade your space with their toxic behaviors, leaving you frustrated. If that’s what you’re dealing with, you need to set boundaries.
Setting your boundaries makes it much more difficult for such individuals to crack your inner shell. Think of your boundaries like a massive wall shielding you from your toxic family members.
Stop Intervening
After setting your boundaries, chances are your toxic family members will try to break it down in an attempt to get to you. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll forcefully try to grab your attention or have you actively involved in their lives. On the contrary, toxic family members have a unique way to circumvent boundaries without even contacting you or forcing themselves back into your life.
For instance, such people always seek sympathy, even for situations that don’t necessarily need it. They like making everything about them. Once you understand this toxic behavior, you’ll begin to respond less when they start looking for sympathy.
Quite frankly, half of the things they go through are usually due to their actions. For this reason, you don’t need to intervene or feel bad about it.
No More Second Chances
One common characteristic of toxic people is that they always want to seem like they’re doing everything to change their habits. For example, they might apologize for their actions and then repeat the same toxic behavior not so long after.
But because they’re part of your family, you’ll most likely give them many chances to change their behaviors. Unfortunately, you only encourage them to keep being toxic by giving them second chances a million times. The worst thing about toxic people is when they realize you have a clean, forgiving heart, they’ll take you through a rollercoaster of emotions. In the end, you’ll regret giving them second chances.
Practice Positivity to Eliminate Negativity
It’s your responsibility to get rid of negativity by practicing positive habits. For example, consider meditation to keep yourself calm and composed in an environment filled with negativity.
Do you love reading? If so, invest in positive books to get rid of negativity. If you prefer reading blogs, these toxic family quotes to let go of toxic people and negativity are a great place to start.
Additionally, before you respond to a toxic person, ask yourself the following questions:
- Is the confrontation worth it?
- What will I benefit from it?
- Is there anything I can do to avoid sharing the same space with a toxic person?
Lower Your Expectations
One of the reasons you feel disappointed or frustrated by toxic family members is because you expect them to change. That’s reasonable, but not when dealing with toxic people.
For better mental peace, consider lowering your expectations about them. By doing so, you won’t be disappointed when they behave in a toxic manner.
Lowering your expectations doesn’t mean thinking lowly of your toxic family members. On the contrary, it means you’re no longer willing to be manipulated by their actions.
Suppose they choose to change somewhere along the way, good for them. If they don’t, you’ll not be surprised, frustrated, or disappointed every time they begin to act in a toxic manner.
Conclusion
Toxic people are some of the most frustrating to deal with. It’s even more disappointing when they’re your family members.
When dealing with toxic family members, there’s always the risk of picking up their habits. For instance, toxic people tend to look for sympathy to get away with their actions. As a result, non-toxic people might seek sympathy in return to create an even playing field.
For example, it may be difficult to handle your toxic parents when they play the sympathy card because they are your parents. As a rule of thumb, don’t react to anything thrown at you. Instead, sit back, observe, and protect yourself by choosing your battles wisely.
