Glad to be back.
Thanks for your insight on how to think about ‘toxic’. I definitely try not to throw it around as much as I used to. For example in past posts I mentioned a past friend/lover who definitely was toxic after many years of trying to convince myself otherwise. On the other hand I’ve had a friend struggling with addiction and depression who I perceived as toxic, but who really just needed someone to care. Happy to report the former is out of my life nearly a year, and the latter has after an intervention taken steps to improve upon her life and is a joy to have around.
That said I do regret rushing to judgement on others in the past just because I wasn’t willing/strong enough at the time to really consider the entire situation. Sometimes it just seems so easy when you read posts on how to cleanse your life of negativity, but as you mentioned, negativity doesn’t mean intentionally hurtful.