Am I The Toxic One?

Early today through Google feed I landed on a Bogging site for Businesses. The blogger who led me there in her introduction says, “I've ridden the rails, gone off track and lost my train of thought. I'm writing to try and find it again. Hope you enjoy the journey with me.”

What a wonderfully metaphorical way to describe the purpose for writing and the process! She is using the imagery of a train journey to illustrate the twists, turns, and sometimes the disarray that accompanies the creative process. It captures the essence of how writing can be an unpredictable yet rewarding adventure. 

The purpose of this note is not to dive deeper into creating literary art pieces, but it is the topic of her blogs that interests me. She has more than 130 posts on the subject of self-development. I am convinced, though late in the day, that self-awareness and all-round self-development should be every one’s primary and all time goal. All time, since development is an unending process and not the destination.

The topic of the post i refer to is unwittingly being the cause of toxicity in the group of which we may be member for the time being, be it family, workplace, neughbourhood or the supersets of the same. 

Being toxic means bringing negativity and strain into the dynamics of a family. It comes down to behavior. We might not even realize that our actions are causing harm. She has identified 10 behaviours which may point to toxicity of one’s character. These, according to author are:

1. Constant criticism,

2. Always playing the victim,

3. Manipulating others’ emotions,

4. Never admitting fault,

5. Excessive control in the name of being organized,

6. Lack of Empathy,

7. Frequent outbursts,

8. Being overly generous,

9. Ignoring boundaries,  and

10. Lack of personal growth.

Being considered toxic for me will be an indicator of ultimate waste of all these 80 years, almost, of my life. I would since I have some time, like to correct myself. I would not like to be described as a toxic member of any group, family, organization, neighbourhood, in my absence. 

I am aware of demonstrating at least 2 of these 10 behaviours and will work to improve. If you have specific observations and have spotted any of these 10 behaviour during your interaction with me, please write back. I will consider it an obligation.

I consider one must be able to give a completely perfect answer if one is asked a question “who are you?” I should know myself before I claim to know others. For those of you who would like to be more self-aware and self-developed, on this parameter, here is the link to article I referred. You can check others by the same author, once you are on her page.

https://blogherald.com/self-development/if-you-display-these-10-behaviors-youre-the-toxic-one-in-the-family/