I hear people say, “This year, this month, this week, tomorrow, or this day, I’m cutting off toxic friends or relationships.” But a question keeps ringing in my mind: Why? What’s the problem? Is it really right?

You know, there was something my mum once told me. She said, and I quote, “A magnet always attracts a magnet. It doesn’t attract paper. It only attracts magnetic things — things related to its magnetic field or another magnet.”

You are paper; there is no way you will be connected to iron. And this is where I draw my point: toxic friends attract toxic friends, and good friends attract good friends. So, if you are a good friend, you will have good friends around you.

But if you constantly find yourself surrounded by toxic friends, maybe you need to look at yourself too. It could be that you have a toxic trait or a bad habit that you have not noticed. Sometimes, we are so busy pointing out the faults of the people around us that we forget to examine ourselves.

So before you ask, “Who should I cut off?”

Who am I?

What kind of person am I?

And who am I attracting?

Because that question can tell you a lot about your friendships, your relationships, and the people around you.

So, who are you attracting? And who are you?