We all have them. They’re everywhere and they look just like you and me. We share our deepest darkest secrets with them, introduce them to our parents, include them in our plans, and even buy them gifts. I’m referring to Frienemies. A Frienemyis someone who pretends to be your friend when in reality, they're your enemy. They’ve successfully worked their way into your inner circle of friends with one goal in mind, to create problems for you. Frienemies are found more often in female relationships than male relationships, but this doesn’t mean men Frienemiesdon’t exist! Per my experience, I’ve found that most men Frienemies sprout from rivalries or competitive scenarios. Women Frienemies tend to be more mischievous, selfish, ruthless, and have less conscious repercussions. Frienemies can be found in the social world as well as the corporate world and are most often driven by jealousy.
Some Frienemies do us harm without even realizing it. It could simply be the symptoms of insecurity or jealousy. The first step to solving your Frienemy problems is learning how to spot them. Here are some simple ways for you to recognize if you have Frienemies! Frienemies tend to continuously bring you down. If you’ve accomplished something impressive, they’ll look for negativity. An example could be if you just aced a final in your first class of the day and instead of congratulating you, they remind you that you have another final that you didn't study for coming up. These are negative comments that keep you from building confidence and can be hard to spot. Negativity should always be avoided. It’s better to think positively and learn to pick out the positives from situations rather than focus on the negatives.Another noticeable tendency in Frienemies is their availability. Frienemies tend to always ask for your attention or support when they are in a tough situation but will always be busy or unavailable whenever you need them. Many people are oblivious to these situations and are constantly being taken advantage of.
Make yourself available to your friends, sometimes this means making sacrifices. Make sure your friends are willing to make time for you too. True friends are there for each other when they’re needed.
Some people feel uncomfortable when with specific friends. If your gut is telling you that there is something shady about your friend, there usually is. Don’t spend time around people who are a bad influence on you. Frienemies try to convince you to do something that you don’t feel comfortable doing or may even try to persuade you to do something that results in trouble. This could include providing poor advice and selfish decisions.
Everyone has that one Frienemywho continuously puts embarrassing things on Facebook or other social media sites. These people will take pictures of you at an event and purposely look for the most embarrassing picture of you and best picture of them and post it for everyone to see. This is one of the most obvious ways to spot a Frienemy. It’s not that tough to figure out which pictures are appropriate and which aren’t. Furthermore, they’ll bring up past times that were unpleasant for you. This could involve resurfacing pictures or stories from an old Vegas trip that highlight some regretful decisions.
In conclusion, most Frienemies lack respect for you and tend to have cruel intentions. It’s important to be able to spot your Frienemies and expose them for what they really are. If you don’t think you have any Frienemies you better look back at these signs and make sure you aren’t the Frienemy. The best way to deal with a Frienemy is to confront them. Most of the time they will deny these signs or they’ll say you’re too sensitive or emotional and try to throw everything back on you. Keep your intentions pure and remain loyal to your friends. I hope this article has helped you spot your Frienemiesand prevent future problems!
Arthur G. Bahr
Social Instigator for...