Shadowing Practice: friendship breakups and boundaries, advice session - Learn English Speaking with Video

Welcome back to Advice Session, a series here on Anything Goes where you, yes you, send in your current dilemmas or anything that you want advice on and then I,

yes me, give you my own professional advice.

And today's topic is a topic that we've touched on many a times here on Anything Goes, and that would be the topic of friendship.

But more specifically, friendship breakups in boundaries, also known as the less fun part of friendship.

The fun part of friendship is going and getting brunch together, going on a hike together, talking about your crushes together,

talking about a funny YouTube video you saw the other day.

You know, that's the fun part of friendship.

The not fun part of friendship, friendship breakups and boundaries.

Although I will say, boundaries are not necessarily not fun.

Boundaries can be awesome.

And they can actually make a friendship more fun, I would argue.

Friendship breakups, on the other hand, not fun.

Nothing is fun about that.

Long term, there can be relief, but short term, kind of sucks, kind of sucks.

Boundaries, more awesome, still kind of uncomfortable.

So we're going to be touching on some of the more uncomfortable parts of friendship today

and I must say I am getting over the flu still

I've been getting over the flu for like a really long time

and so my voice kind of sounds like shit okay

and maybe I also was at karaoke like a week ago too

and my voice has just never recovered I honestly need to

take better care of my voice considering it's my job to talk

but it sounds like shit and in my defense I was at karaoke

but I didn't even get on stage and sing karaoke I literally just watched and sang along Okay, I sang along.

But that was enough to fuck my boys up.

In addition to the flu, it's like I just, my pipes have been off.

So ignore that and excuse that.

Anyway, without further ado, let's begin.

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Now back to the episode.

Somebody said, I want to end a friendship because it sucks the life out of me.

But my friend doesn't know that because I don't think I make it obvious.

So if I brought it up, it might make me seem crazy or seem random.

What do I do?

Well, this is interesting.

It sounds like to me

that you've never had a conversation with this friend about whatever it is that makes this relationship exhausting.

You've never brought it up.

Now, I don't know what your friend is doing, right?

And that is helpful information.

But I will say, in relationships, relationships, confrontation is key.

That's what makes relationships grow, evolve.

That's what allows relationships to continue through various chapters of life, right?

If you're not communicating and confronting, it's very hard to keep a relationship going.

And so I don't know what your friend is doing that sucks the life out of you.

And that's a serious statement.

I take that very seriously.

You know, if this person's sucking the life out of you, that's a big problem and we need to fix that.

However, if it's possible and fair to yourself,

I think it's not a terrible idea before just jumping ship on the friendship to perhaps maybe bring up the exhausting traits,

qualities about your friend to your friend before you just jump ship.

I mean, listen, you got to be, you know, you want to be kind about it.

You want to be gentle about it.

You want to be empathetic about it.

You want to remember that the person that you're confronting is a fellow human being, has feelings, even if what they're doing is a bummer.

But you could gently, respectfully bring up your grapes with your friend, find a creative way to do that.

And your friend might be like, oh, I didn't even notice that about myself.

I'm so sorry.

Wow.

Thank you for letting me know.

You're right.

That's true.

I'm going to work on that.

And your friend might learn something about themselves through that experience

and improve and grow from that experience and they might from

that conversation become a great friend to you once again

that doesn't suck the life out of you I think

if it's fair to yourself

and it makes sense in this situation meaning whatever this person is doing isn't

so bad so bad

that you know it's like an obvious sort of choice to leave the relationship I would say bring it up

and give them a little chance to resolve it first, see what they do.

And if they don't take this as a growth opportunity, if perhaps they're defensive upon the confrontation, if perhaps they're open.

to the criticism, the constructive criticism in the moment, but then they don't actually grow from that.

Okay.

Then you can have a conversation.

You can be like, you know what, we've talked about this before.

It hasn't really changed.

And it's something that really bugs me.

And I don't think I can, I can be in your life in the capacity that I'm in it now, because I just can't handle that.

I'm definitely, that was definitely kind of therapy speak.

I don't even go to therapy currently.

So it's like, where did that come from?

But that was sort of therapy speak.

But then at that point, it's not coming out of left field.

It's not coming out of nowhere.

You've already brought this up.

Your friend is aware that there's something about them that is challenging for you, perhaps challenging to many people.

It's just a challenging trait in general.

And you can feel good knowing that you gave them the chance.

You gave them a heads up.

And that was the most that you could do.

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And they are not going to feel like this is coming out of left field coming out of nowhere.

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You know what I mean?

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I think it doesn't hurt to bring it up and see what they do and then go from there.

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I think that that is potentially a great solution for you.

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I will say though, if your friend is like doing something really wrong,

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like being really mean to you, or I don't even know, like, you know, doing something that's sort of that's like super super fucked up

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okay saying mean things about you bringing you down constantly

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and you've never brought it up

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because you're like I'm just trying to be chill I'm trying

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to be a chill friend you know I don't want to

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I don't want to stir the pot well chances are

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if your friend is doing something that bad they know they know

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that they're doing that so if you bring it up even

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if it comes out of left field even

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if it kind of feels like it's coming out of nowhere

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if it's something like that if you bring it up and you say you know what I don't know

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I really wanted to be friends with you, but you really hurt me in this way.

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You really sucked the life out of me, to use your own words.

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And this is why.

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If it's something that is actually deeply hurtful and not just like, oh, they copy everything I do.

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Or, oh, they always ditch me at parties and go talk to boys, other boys.

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Or like, I'm just giving random examples of things

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that are not ideal but also not necessarily a complete deal breaker right those are things

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that could be worked through whereas like

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if somebody's not on your team they're bringing you down they're

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saying mean shit about you to your face they're like trying to bring you down a peg constantly

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and that's sucking the life out of you like that's a huge issue

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and yes i think that that's a valid reason to leave a friendship immediately

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but i think if you bring that up chances are they are going to know

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that they're doing that and they're going to be very aware of

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that and the second you say it they're not going to be surprised

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that you're saying it

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so don't be afraid of it coming out of left field they probably already know

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that they're doing it they just can't help themselves they're in

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a bad place they're insecure themselves they can't help themselves

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and you enable it in a way by not confronting it

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so they just think that they can continue to do it without repercussions yeah in

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that case if it's something like that you don't have to be worried about

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what it looks like to them or

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if it's coming out of nowhere like who cares they're treating

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you like shit like actually like shit you know it's not just like an annoyance like a minor annoyance

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that may be resolvable or not like it's very clear like that's not cool um

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and by the way you can leave a friendship whenever for whatever reason

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that is completely your prerogative but my advice would be

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if it's something or a collection of sort of more minor things

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could be an interesting opportunity to practice your communication skills teach your friend about themselves a little more,

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give them an opportunity to grow and potentially even develop a stronger friendship, maybe.

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Otherwise, you bring it up, who cares?

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And you have a heart to heart about it and go from there.

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If your friend is like, oh my God, I am such an asshole to you.

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I'm so sorry.

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I'm going to try to be better.

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Hey, that could be awesome.

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And then you could potentially, you know, you can do that what you want.

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But if they're not like that, then that's the end of that.

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I will say, I mean, there also is a way to sort of slowly fizzle a friendship.

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If a friendship is sucking the life out of you, and maybe in your opinion, in your mind, you're like, bringing this up isn't even going to be helpful.

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Like sometimes people suck the life out of us that aren't even bad people.

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You know, good people can suck the life out of us.

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Trust me, I've experienced that many times.

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Sometimes it's just a compatibility issue.

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If that's the case, it is really hard to bring it up.

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How do you bring that up?

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You can't just be like, hey, dude, kind of just the way you are sucks.

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Oh, yeah, just your overall aura.

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Not for me.

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That's tough.

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You know, you can't.

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I don't know.

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How do you even bring that up?

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So if that's the case, and that's why this friend sucks the life out of you, you could try a slow fizzle.

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You know, I don't love that.

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I don't love that because I think I do love communication.

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But I also know that sometimes it does make more sense to just kind of slowly drift apart, you know.

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answers to texts become more and more sporadic, you know, drop a few more excuses to not hang out.

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I don't love that type of strategy.

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I would prefer to just say everything to everyone's face.

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But sometimes that's the way that makes the most sense.

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If the reason why you want to distance yourself from someone is not because they've done anything wrong, but just because you don't really like their vibe.

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Oops.

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Oops.

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Anyway.

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Okay, next.

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Somebody said, what do I do if I want to move on from being friends with certain people, but I feel like they have a lot of vulnerable

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and personal information about me and I'm scared of how they will use that in the future.

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Oh my God, I could not resonate with something more.

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This is an anxiety that plagues me all of the time, all of the time.

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It's funny because I think my career is rooted in my openness to talk about almost anything

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and i am just such an open book by nature i

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was like born this way this is it's in my blood

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it's in my dna it's who i am as a person

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i just am okay with i i love i love being

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vulnerable i love being open i love having heart to hearts

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with people like this is what life is about for me

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this is like my purpose on this planet it feels like

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is to just have really vulnerable conversations for whatever reason i was born

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and i just i'm not afraid of it right i'll talk about anything, anything for the most part.

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And even if it's something embarrassing, even if it's something really vulnerable, even if it's something that most people wouldn't want to say about themselves, like, I don't care.

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I will pretty much say anything about myself for the sake of human connection.

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Now, in some ways, that's a beautiful thing, because we do connect with one another through vulnerability, right?

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Like, think about a time when you're at a party or something, And maybe the vibe in the room was a little tense.

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And then somebody made a vulnerable joke or told a vulnerable story.

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Next thing you know, the room is moving different.

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It feels different.

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People are connecting more.

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It's, you know, kind of a veil was lifted.

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Things are a bit more clear.

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There's a bit more connection happening.

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Like, that's how it is.

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You know, like think about the first vulnerable conversation you had with your best friend

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and how that was the moment that you both really, truly connected for the first time or a romantic partner.

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The list goes on.

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You know, like vulnerable conversations are how we connect with other people.

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You're not connecting with people over small talk.

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You're not.

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And so, you know, it's a crucial ingredient, in my opinion, in any sort of meaningful conversation or relationship.

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Right vulnerable conversation storytelling admitting to one's shortcomings the list goes

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on right that's how we connect with each other now that's

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a beautiful thing it works wonders however it's also really scary

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you know even though i'm someone who's unbelievably comfortable talking about almost literally anything

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and everything like there are also things where i'm like that was a private story.

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You know what I mean?

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I told that person because I wanted that person to know, but I don't necessarily want everyone to know that.

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Like even I have my limits as a complete open book.

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You know, there are just certain things where I'm like, no, I'm good.

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I want to be more sparing with that.

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And this is just the nature of friendship, right?

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You share vulnerable, sensitive information with one another to get closer.

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And that's what differentiates you with your friends and you with a stranger.

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You know what I mean?

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You tell your friends your deepest, darkest secrets, right?

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You're not telling a stranger your deepest, darkest secrets, unless you're drunk and there's a certain like vibe happening.

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Sometimes it feels good to tell a stranger your deepest, darkest secrets.

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And by the way, I don't always think that that's wrong.

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Sometimes that's actually a safer option because those people don't know the people in your circle.

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You know what I mean?

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It's actually kind of like a vault of sorts.

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But anyway, I understand this anxiety because not only am I a super open book, meaning that I will probably share more than the average person,

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putting me in a more vulnerable position than the average person.

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But on top of that, I'm also an incredibly anxious person.

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I'm an overthinker.

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I am a bit obsessive at times.

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And so I'm sort of set up for failure here because those two qualities definitely clash, right?

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Right.

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Because oversharing or not even oversharing, but being vulnerable makes you put you in a position where you're a little bit out of control

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and being anxious makes you crave control.

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The problem is that you feel out of control.

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So those traits of mine definitely clash.

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So I really relate to this feeling.

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But the first thing I want to say, which I already really said, is that unfortunately, this is sort of an inevitable part of friendship right?

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You are going to share vulnerable stories.

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You are going to talk about things that you don't talk about with other people.

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You are going to share sensitive information.

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That's a huge part of friendship.

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But also it's sometimes necessary for friendships to end.

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And now you're in a situation where someone that you no longer want to spend time with.

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has sensitive information about you, right?

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They know things about you that other people don't know.

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This person's about to become a stranger to you again, and they know things about you that are sensitive to you.

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The nice thing about strangers usually is that they don't know anything about you.

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You don't know anything about them.

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And that's exactly how it is.

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It's a little bit awkward.

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It's a little bit weird.

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It's a little bit uncomfortable.

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It's a little bit unnerving when there's a stranger that knows a lot about you.

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You know what I mean?

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That's uncomfortable and that is sort of the situation when you stop being friends with somebody.

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They're about to go back to being a stranger, but this time they know a lot about you.

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That is not great.

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That doesn't feel great because the trust is sort of gone.

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The allegiance is gone.

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The loyalty is gone.

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There might even be some hurt feelings.

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That's the scariest part.

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Is this person mad that we're not friends anymore?

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Are they going to go tell everybody about the time I shit myself at my birthday party

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and then broke up with my boyfriend and then broke my kneecap and then threw up.

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Are they going to tell everyone about that because they're mad?

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Maybe they might.

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In fact, they probably will.

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They also might not, but they definitely might.

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And that's the hardest part about all of this.

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They definitely might.

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And this is something I have had to come to terms with.

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Okay.

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And it's been really uncomfortable and challenging for me.

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I've had to accept that in attempt to become close to people in this life, I'm going to tell them stories that then are theirs.

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You know what I mean?

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Like I'm, I'm giving them a piece of myself in a way.

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And if the friendship doesn't work out, it is out of my control completely what they do with that.

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Now, I think the first step to handling this discomfort is to accept the worst case scenario.

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A lot of times with anxiety, this is the best approach.

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Accept the worst case scenario.

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Okay, what's the worst case scenario?

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This person that you're no longer friends with goes out and tells everyone one of your deepest, darkest secrets.

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Okay, what is the worst case scenario from that?

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Does that secret hurt somebody's feelings?

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Is it deeply embarrassing?

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You know, what is it?

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And then run through the entire scenario.

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Okay.

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If this person goes and they tell everyone this thing about me or this thing that I said, or this thing that I did.

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Okay.

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Well now that's, that might be information that's a little bit more public.

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Okay.

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If this calls me to action, I need to do something to solve this.

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Okay.

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What is my plan?

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You know, how do I, how do I solve this problem?

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Do I need to call someone up and apologize?

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Do I need to just accept the fact that people know something embarrassing about me? work through the worst case scenario, find a solution, create a solution,

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make a plan for the worst case scenario.

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And you'll realize, okay, this isn't great.

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This isn't ideal.

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This isn't fun.

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But I could handle this if the worst case scenario happens.

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If me and this person stop being friends, and all of my secrets get aired out to the world, which probably won't even happen, right?

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Like, yeah, maybe they'll tell a few people about a few things, maybe if it's even that interesting to them.

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Maybe, but it probably won't even extend out that far.

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Like, it'll probably never even get back to you.

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You'll probably never even know that.

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You'll never even hear about it.

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It'll probably never be an issue again.

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But for your own sanity and peace of mind, take it all the way to the furthest degree,

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the worst case scenario, and then come up with a plan in your head.

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But I will say, though, too, I'm making people sound bad, right?

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Like, well, they might go around and tell people, yeah, they might tell like one of their friends something that you said one time, maybe.

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But like, I feel like for the most part, people really are good and they don't want to like sabotage you.

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I mean, that does happen, sure.

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But it's not super common, you know?

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I think at worst, usually, at worst, usually, you might get gossiped about in a small circle, but it won't extend outside of that.

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And who cares about that?

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Because here's the deal.

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You can't stay in a friendship just because someone has sensitive information about you.

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And listen, I've been tempted.

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I've been tempted.

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I find that usually what ends up stressing me out is when I've had a heart -to -heart to somebody about, I don't know, someone else.

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Okay?

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Not about me.

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I'm having a heart -to -heart with somebody about someone else.

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I'm talking about someone else.

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Maybe not even necessarily badly, but more like vulnerably, analytically, whatever.

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I'm talking about someone else to someone that I'm friends with, right?

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Again, it's not even necessarily talking shit, but maybe just talking about someone else, okay?

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In a vulnerable way for like, not in, yeah, it's not even in a gossipy way.

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It's just in like, I'm sharing information about somebody else to my friend, right?

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That is what ends up making me anxious.

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I don't really care about stories that I tell about myself.

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that doesn't really bother me.

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It's more like, oh shit, I told this person about, I gave this person information about somebody else.

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Now I'm uncomfortable because they know this thing about somebody else and I don't want them to like hurt this person, if that makes sense.

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That's usually what ends up triggering my anxiety and making me afraid.

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And so you know what I've had to learn over the years?

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I really shouldn't do that.

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And I still am working on that.

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Like it's like we learn what our boundaries are, what we feel comfortable with, what's okay with us, you know,

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over the years and I'm still working on figuring out what I'm comfortable with sharing with friends

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deep down knowing that at some point we might not be friends anymore

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and information that we shared in private and in confidence

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and in a safe environment might not be safe forever you know ah

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but it's tough

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because yeah you don't know what they're gonna do with it

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you don't know they might keep it to themselves forever they

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might tell all their friends they might make a fucking TikTok about it.

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You don't know.

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But you cannot remain in a friendship just because you're afraid of the information that they have.

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You can't do that.

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You'll torture yourself for no reason, too, because majority of the time, the worst case scenario doesn't even come to pass.

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It won't even get back to you.

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Now back to the episode.

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Okay, to summarize my advice, because that was kind of all over the place.

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Number one, I would say distance yourself from the friendship in the most

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kind way possible to leave the littlest amount of resentment possible, right?

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I think when there's bad blood, there's a higher likelihood of some sort of gossipy situation.

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But also too, that's going to just create more anxiety and discomfort in you.

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Okay.

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And number two, learn from this experience and moving forward, have clear boundaries with yourself about what you're comfortable telling friends, knowing deep down that this could happen again.

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And that's something that I think is an ongoing journey, at least for me.

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Like I, I am still learning what I'm okay with telling friends.

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And it's really hard not to just tell them everything.

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Because when friends with somebody, it's like, I love you.

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You're like my family.

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Like, let me just tell you everything.

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But this type of shit does happen.

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Even, but see, I think this is actually a worse situation when it's like not your closest, bestest friends in the world, but rather like a friend,

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but one that maybe you don't trust 100%.

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It's not like this person's family to you.

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I think that's the most complicated kind of person in this sort of situation.

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Like that's usually when it gets really stressful.

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Next, somebody said, I love my friends, but they always want to hang out.

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And I just love my alone time so much.

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How do I set those boundaries without them thinking I'm rude?

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I don't want them to stop inviting me places, but sometimes I just really need my alone time.

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Okay, this is not personal, right?

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This has nothing to do with your friends.

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You love your friends.

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You just also sometimes need your alone time.

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And perhaps your friends have more spare time than you, or they're just more extroverted than you.

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And so they have more energy to be hanging out more often.

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Don't even feel guilty about this for a second.

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You're doing nothing wrong.

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There's nothing wrong here.

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This is so easy.

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And I'm not saying that to like degrade your feelings or to devalue your feelings or to undermine your feelings.

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I'm saying this to like give you a sense of peace.

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My God, this is easy.

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Okay.

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It's all about the tone you use when you shoot down a plan.

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It's that simple.

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Okay.

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People get weird.

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People get butthurt when you're like, oh man I can't today sorry no punctuation no emoji no reassurance no nothing just

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straight to the point rejection that's when people start to get a vibe

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and they're like wait is this person mad at me does

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this person not like hanging out with me does this person not like us like what's the issue that's

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when things go wrong is when the tone is wrong

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but a little bit of extra effort when it comes to communication can go so far.

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So I'll give you an example.

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Let's say all of your friends are going to a carnival and the group chat gets stirring and somebody's like, hey, I'm going to the carnival tonight.

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Do you all want to come?

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Like, let's all go.

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Everyone says, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

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And you're like, I can't do this tonight.

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Okay.

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You could be like, oh, I'm going to skip out, send that into the group chat.

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Or you could say, OMG, I'm so bummed.

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I'm so tired, but I miss you all so much, and I love you all so much, and send me photos so I can live vicariously through you all.

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You see the difference?

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One is impossible to read.

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Oh, I'm going to skip out.

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I'm not going tonight.

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Oh, I'm too tired.

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That versus, OMG, I'm way too tired, but I love you all so much.

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Send me photos so I can live vicariously through you.

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Okay, that is the most reassuring text I've ever heard in my life.

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I might as well have just wrote a poem.

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It's so reassuring.

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You know what I mean?

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It's borderline beautiful because it's so reassuring.

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It's all a tone thing.

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You know what i mean there's like

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and you know what i'm a people pleaser by nature so i understand this this

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desire to say yes to everything this fear of like oh

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if i say no if i don't show up people are going to think i'm upset

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or they're gonna you know whatever and what i found over the years is

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if i decline an invitation with love and generosity okay if i'm unbelievably warm in the way that I respond, right?

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I've never once gotten any pushback.

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No one's ever been like, dude, what?

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Like, are you like trying to like avoid us or something?

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Like it just doesn't happen because just a few little tweaks

461

that provide some reassurance to your friends can work wonders

462

and make it so that you can decline invitations all you want and no one ever takes it personal.

463

Okay, next.

464

Somebody said, my ex best friend works in the same small industry as me and it's very awkward and uncomfortable.

465

How do I share space with her more comfortably?

466

Okay.

467

I think you have two options here.

468

Option one, you could just address it directly.

469

Okay.

470

This is such Emma advice.

471

This is just what Emma says about everything in regards to relationships.

472

Have a conversation about it.

473

Have a conversation about it.

474

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

475

Emma is just a broken record.

476

Here I go again, saying the same thing again.

477

have a conversation about it.

478

Sit your friend down.

479

Invite your friend to lunch.

480

Invite your friend to coffee.

481

Sit your friend down and be like, listen, we both know what's going on here.

482

What's going on here?

483

We were friends.

484

Now we're not.

485

Now we have to be in the same room all the time.

486

It's a little weird.

487

It's a little uncomfortable, which is not a fun feeling to experience.

488

Discomfort is not fun.

489

How do we find a way to coexist here

490

that is comfortable? let's workshop it together let's you know get down to the nitty -gritty here

491

and figure out what the solution is together as a unit okay that's one that's one option have

492

that conversation with your friend right

493

and only you two can come up with the perfect solution right

494

because i don't know how often you see each other i

495

don't know why you stop being friends you know i don't know

496

if there's any sort of way of being acquaintances right like chill acquaintances where like, maybe you could even have lunch together sometimes at work.

497

Like, I don't know if that's even an option.

498

It just all depends.

499

Right.

500

But I think having a heart to heart about it and coming up with a solution together can be an incredible option.

501

That's honestly such a relief to both of you, you know?

502

Yeah.

503

It might be a little bit nerve wracking, a little bit uncomfortable for like the first two minutes, but once you get into the conversation, I think you both will be so relieved that you're just talking about it instead of it being this unspoken thing.

504

I hate unspoken things I hate it get it all out

505

on the table my god what a relief what a fucking relief what a relief

506

and that goes for like

507

so many different types of social situations in life whether it's platonic romantic having secrets

508

and stuff it's painful it's uncomfortable

509

so much easier just to like say how you're feeling obviously you gotta have you gotta have tact in social cues, sure, but I don't know.

510

I think we keep a lot of things a secret.

511

We don't address a lot of things that are sort of uncomfortable

512

or a bit weird when we could and it would be much more comfortable for everyone involved.

513

Like I think a lot of times we as humans miss opportunities to make situations that are uncomfortable way less uncomfortable.

514

Option two, if you don't really feel like a conversation is necessary

515

or you don't think it would be helpful or it's the idea of it makes you way too uncomfortable.

516

You can't even fathom it.

517

Perhaps just change your perspective.

518

Okay.

519

Perhaps it's weirder or more tense than it needs to be because you're putting a lot of energy into thinking about it, thus giving it this weight in your mind.

520

Perhaps you're building it up into this thing that it doesn't need to be.

521

You're like, oh, this is so weird.

522

Like we were friends.

523

Now we're not.

524

Now we're working together and we're around each other and we were close and now or not, it's weird.

525

Maybe it's not that weird.

526

That shit happens all the time, you know?

527

Maybe if you just sort of changed your perspective on it, if you used a bit of mindfulness to work on not overthinking it,

528

and you just treat your ex -best friend with brief politeness and professionalism when you see her, it might slowly just become your new normal.

529

Yeah, it is weird to be besties with somebody and then to become kind of strangers again.

530

Yeah, that is weird, but it is also

531

not that big of a deal and it's also not that unusual right so That would be my other suggestion.

532

If you really don't want to have a conversation about it, you could just change your perspective and be like, wait, in the grand scheme of life and things, this is not that crazy.

533

This is not that weird.

534

This is not really anything to overthink.

535

Like, yeah, it's a little bit uncomfortable that we're in the same environment.

536

But at the same time, stranger things definitely have happened.

537

You know what I mean?

538

It's not that weird.

539

And if you both just decide to not make it weird, it won't be weird.

540

And you could lead by example in that and you could do

541

that first you know

542

but i i would say i would suggest to just have

543

a conversation i think that's a much better option more enjoyable easier less guesswork less overthinking

544

because weirdly you know trying to change your perspective on the

545

whole thing could actually also in a way make you think about it even more temporarily right

546

but that's my suggestion

547

and i wish you luck okay that's it that's it for today hey thank you all for listening and hanging out.

548

As always, it's a pleasure.

549

New episodes of advice session every once in a while, usually around once a month these days.

550

Here on Anything Goes.

551

Anything Goes is anywhere you stream podcasts.

552

I'm on the internet at Emma Chamberlain and my coffee company is in the world and on the internet at Chamberlain Coffee.

553

I love you all.

554

I appreciate you all.

555

Thank you for spending your valuable, valuable time with me.

556

It is an honor and a privilege and I do not take

557

that for granted And I hope that you know that I'll talk to you next week.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 557 sentences and 6095 words to shadow. The speech runs for 31:42. The speaker talks fast, about 192 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 less common words from the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

friendship /ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/ (noun) — The condition of being friends.
uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/ (adjective) — Not comfortable; causing discomfort.
vulnerable /ˈvʌln(ə)ɹəbl̩/ (adjective) — More or most likely to be exposed to the chance of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally.
suck /sʌk/ (verb) — To use the mouth and lips to pull in (a liquid, especially milk from the breast).
scenario /sɪˈnɛəɹioʊ/ (noun) — An outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events.
boundary /ˈbaʊndɹi/ (noun) — The dividing line or location between two areas.
necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/ (adverb) — Inevitably; of necessity.
sensitive /ˈsɛn.sɪt.ɪv/ (adjective) — Having the faculty of sensation; pertaining to the senses.
anxiety /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/ (noun) — An unpleasant state of mental uneasiness, nervousness, apprehension and obsession or concern about some uncertain event.
connect /kəˈnɛkt/ (verb) — To join (to another object): to attach, or to be intended to attach or capable of attaching, to another object.
nowhere /ˈnoʊ.(h)wɛɹ/ (adverb) — In no place.
vibe /vaɪb/ (noun) — An atmosphere or aura felt to belong to a person, place or thing.
tone /ˈtəʊn/ (noun) — A specific pitch.
topic /ˈtɑpɪk/ (noun) — A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest.
helpful /ˈhɛlp.fl̩/ (adjective) — Furnishing help; giving aid; useful.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

talk about (verb) — Used to draw attention to the speaker's characterization of someone or something.
go on /ˈɡoʊˌɒn/ (verb) — To continue in extent.
work on (verb) — To apply mental or physical effort to (something) in order to shape, form, improve, investigate, solve it, etc.
come up with (verb) — To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it.
do with (verb) — Only used in to do with
end up (verb) — To bring to a conclusion.
think about /ˈθɪŋk əˌbaʊt/ (verb) — To ponder.
bring up (verb) — To mention.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 217 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: bother /ˈbɑðɚ/, leather /ˈlɛðɚ/, theirs /ðɛɚz/, authenticity /ɑθɛnˈtɪsɪti/, empathetic /ˌɛmpəˈθɛtɪk/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: friendship /ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/, potentially /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/, anxious /ˈæŋkʃəs/, suggestion /səˈd͡ʒɛst.ʃən/, clash /ˈklæʃ/
Long words — get the stress right: uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/, necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/, anxiety /æŋˈzaɪ.əti/, potentially /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/, confrontation /ˌkɑn.fɹənˈteɪ.ʃən/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like friendship, uncomfortable, vulnerable.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result	if it's something that most people wouldn't want · if you don't have yours yet, you'll find
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	we've touched · has just never recovered · have been
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	is presented · could be worked · is rooted

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

Grammar in this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?