That jealous friend

It’s so funny that sometimes the people closest to us can be the most disparaging. It sort of makes sense if you think about it. We don’t choose the people in our family, and our friends are typically made serendipitously. I think the only person that most people in our society pay a lot of attention to choosing is our romantic partner(s). So in that sense, almost anyone accomplished or of any worth has likely had a jealous friend–or family member.

It’s not a pleasant experience having a jealous friend, especially when you, like me, are the type of person who has an agreeable temperament. You sort of feel like you can’t distance yourself from them out of obligation. I’m thinking of the type of person who tends to casually put you down. I remember I had a former friend like that. He sort of knew I was an ambitious person, and so would always make these remarks about how, for instance, I wasn’t a smart person and just worked hard. What a terrible thing to say to someone. Another thing he would do is bring up an acquaintance, and remark on how that other person was so much better than me: you’d never measure up to so and so, he would say.

Despite all this, this person stayed in my life for over a decade all the while professing his loyalty to me. Yet, with the passage of time, his presence has finally faded away–on his term nonetheless. That says something about me though: I should be more careful about choosing my friends and the people I surround myself with. But in the mean time, good riddance!