There are times where the best thing to do for yourself is to sever a friend- ship that brings you negativity. Friendships can form negative roots. We are told that we are who we hang around, and that is often true. Choosing to put your- self in a negative situation will feed that energy into relationships and other people.

Knowing when a friend- ship is toxic and doing something about it can save you from years of mis- spent energy. Question if you’re just lonely and just want someone to hang out with. Those friendships stem from your own toxic root feeding into others. Maintaining friendships that suck the life out of you will only solve temporary feelings and problems. Save yourself the time, be honest with yourself and be brave enough to sever ties with someone who doesn’t have the space in your life.

Remember, friends come and go all the time; it’s natural. Allow positive people to come into your life and allow time to nurture true friendships. Take a moment and reflect: do you feel drained or feel bad about yourself, depressed, angry or simply completely negative after meeting? Do you dread see- ing this person? What do you do when they call? If you answered these questions, reassess the reason you’re keeping this specific friendship afloat. Limit the time you spend together. Develop positive habits and traits.

Get up, brush your teeth, eat breakfast, do a work- out, go on a walk, do push- ups in between commercial breaks, cook a meal. Fun does not always mean you have to put yourself out there completely. If they give you a hard time, stand your ground. This is for your own sanity and happiness. After all, it is your life, and nobody can tell you who to spend your time with. What type of person do you want to become or be? How are you going to leave your legacy behind in this world? How will people remember you?

These are the questions I ask myself everyday to keep myself as positive as possible. Not everyday is easy or a good sunshine and rain- bows day either. It’s okay to have bad days. Although, everyday is not a bad day.

There was time in my life personally where I was extremely negative all the time. I would consider myself a juvenile delinquent. I never got caught, but the actions and attitude I portrayed to everyone else was negative. Senior year of high school is when my brain finally flicked a switch and started cutting negative thoughts and people out of my life completely.

Retaliation wasn’t enough for me to give up on the things I wanted to pursue in life, rather it gave me motivation to do more, and be more. My confidence rose more when I finally took myself out of the food service industry and worked with juveniles and inmates.

Can it be stressful? Absolutely! It allows me to stay focused on other things as well when life does become stressful.

Work becomes an escape to the things that are actually going on in my life and use it to my advantage in a positive way.

Starting all the way at the end of the ladder and working up it in a few years has given me enough experience to be successful now. Although, I feel I could be even more successful and further in life, I’m exactly where I need to be right now.

Disclaimer: The following opinion articles featured do not reflect the opinion of the Northern Iowan newspaper or staff as a whole.