Sometimes when we are already making positive changes in our lives, we may still have family members stuck in the same rut we used to have. While we love these people, it’s not always healthy for us to be around them, and it’s important to know how to juggle that dynamic if we want to be successful in life.
When some members of our family, especially our siblings, act hostile towards us, most of the time the negativity is subtle and done subconsciously because our subconscious tends to resist when a person does not act the way we expect. Another reason is that, on some level, it reminds them of their shortcomings and missed opportunities; it is the other side of the coin that sees people take great pleasure in the failures of others. Apparently, this insecurity stems from jealousy, animosity, disdain, gossiping, passive aggressive comments, verbal challenges, alienation, and outright sabotage.
When your relationship with our brethren has turned toxic, we sometimes tend to brush off a spike in casualties, simply passing them off as business as usual. It’s one thing to have tough times, though, but when bickering and power plays become the norm, it’s more than just being in a bad mood or needing a couple of days apart. This type of people that depress us is due to their own self-destructive behavior.
Our normal reaction in this situation is anger or resentment. Even if we try to resist the urge to become emotional or vindictive, it’s easier said than done, especially when your integrity is at stake. People like this have a psychological incapacity that wants to beg sympathy from others by claiming to be the righteous one and dragging their own family along for the sake of self-preservation.
Although, we do wonder what is causing his behavior; we need to understand if they are really mad at us or just being insecure. It’s fair to think about how much they mean to us because they are our family, but bordering on anger, this can cause us to underestimate them for not being happy with other people’s success.
The sad truth is that we may realize at this point that whatever value they have brought to their lives is long gone. Just as you are changing for the better, sometimes other people change for the worse.
However, never underestimate the ability of others to take your momentum away with a simple comment. In fact, this is very destructive to your positive self-concept. In the same way, people who do those things and can’t seem to get away from their demons are a particularly big risk to you.