Balancing a social life and a professional life is a stressful task to take on – and ever so often the scales tip, and one side is given way too much attention while the other is neglected.
Some may argue that a social life is more difficult to maintain than a professional life, and this can actually prove to be true at times because your friends are people. They have their own feelings, and problems with them won't always have straightforward fixes, as most things in your professional life do. In a social life, you have to be more interactive and sometimes even put more time into meeting up with your friends or having a meaningful conversation.
It may get hard sometimes, but is it unnecessarily hard? Is it to the point where you can absolutely not take your friends anymore? Here are some signs that it may be time to reassess your friend group.
1. They are outright mean to you.
This may seem obvious, but many people think that this is just part of the "friendship" and overlook it, making them the reason why they're hurting so much – because they are sticking to the people that are slowly wearing them down.
Try looking at your friends' words from a completely third-person perspective by pretending that you don't know your friend at all. Can you detect sarcasm in their voice? Do they smoothly drop remarks that you didn't notice before? These things really do matter.
2. You don't feel an urge to greet them in the halls or class.
This usually means that you don't want to call them to your attention or talk to them. Sure, sometimes it may be because you're tired or just want some time alone, but if it's constant, there is something wrong about the way that this person or people make you feel.
3. You know they're untruthful, but they try to hide it.
I've had experiences with this before. It's when you know they're lying about something and sometimes even they know that you know about this. It just goes to show that they aren't comfortable in their own skin in front of you and still have to cover for everything despite being friends, which shows a lack of trust.
4. They can't make time for you (ever).
Practically everyone is busy these days – it's the 21st century. But if your so-called "friends" can't make time for you literally EVER, then maybe something else is going on. Someone who can't show up to things that matter to you isn't good enough for you.
5. You're an entirely different person around them.
A two-faced person is almost never a good thing. When you're the two-faced person, it takes a larger toll on you than it does on your friends. If you find you have to be a completely different person and have to restrain yourself in front of these friends, it doesn't always mean that they are bad people. Your personalities may just clash.
Either way, start looking for some people who are like-minded with you. You'll end up much happier when you're with people you don't have to pretend with.
SEE ALSO: The 7 Social Cliques In High School And Their Standings In Teen HierarchyÂ
6. Everything is about them.
Are they constantly complaining about how much their life sucks while never listening to your worries or concerns? A good friend is someone who listens to what you have on your mind, even asks you how you're doing. If your "friends" seem impatient when you start talking and use everything as a way to jump back to what they were saying, it's a sure sign that you should reconsider your friends.
7. You feel excluded from everything they do.
Nobody likes to be excluded or ignored. Your friends may not be paying attention to you, and therefore, you feel this way. If it feels like you're the odd one out in nearly every activity you and your friends do together, maybe they're a closed group. The good news is that it's an opportunity for you to switch gears.
Starting a new friendship at this stage in your life might seem challenging to you, and it is. You may be scared of having no friends for a while. But if this is the case, then the only thing you can do is try to meet and connect with more people and see if you can find people with like personalities. It will happen, but you may just have to wait a little for it first.
