Specifically three girl friends who don’t know each other and we’re all aged between 26-32. For context, we are all very average in attractiveness.
I love to give my friends support and boost their confidence but I’ve also noticed a lack of self awareness, particularly related to relationships. A lot of the conversations centre around men and while explaining a situation, they will often interject with “He’s so lucky to be with me” and “I’m the prize” and “I’m the prettiest girl he’ll ever get the chance to be with” and then continue in exasperation about how they don’t understand his behaviour.
I enjoy their company, they make me laugh, but sometimes each of them can be really draining and say things in social interactions that I would personally find uncomfortable but they don’t seem to care and others react minimally, so I suppose who am I to police anyone?
Last week, one of them mentioned that they’ve been blocked by a guy for the 5th time. We go through the usual venting, self aggrandising and exasperated confusion. I usually just agree because I don’t really know how to respond when someone is hyping themselves up but a part of me understands why another person would be put off.
My friends conclusion to this was: “People who try to humble me are jealous, it happens all the time.” Maybe this is true but I don’t think she’s aware of how she may come across to someone that hasn’t experienced the depth of what she has to offer as a person.
I quietly hope that my friends would self-reflect just a tiny little bit because they’re honestly amazing people and it would help them avoid these situations which are clearly giving them distress. I don’t know if it’s worth bringing up, especially because I’ve noticed that a big cornerstone of female friendship is about ignoring any and all flaws in appearance and character.
How do you navigate this, if at all?