Plus one minus one.

Social etiquette is strange.

Have you ever been in a group of people, whether your best friends, friends or even just associates where the group dynamic is comfortable and functional, only for it to change because of an additional person added, or a change in a certain person?

I admit it's a long question but one which I think you may be able to relate to. You see recently, over the past few months a circle which I was involved with changed in dynamic due to a particular person.

This person I did not have any problem with at all, and reacted positively to this change in the group. However, I found that their reaction to me was somehow different. They were hesitant to talk to me individually, and when I spoke in conversation I was unacknowledged to a point where it was uncomfortable to talk to those people when this particular person was around.

I sat away from the group and started to socialise with those which I had maybe spoke to less due to my social 'clique' and I was able to realise how much I'd relied on a few people for conversation. It was refreshing.

On further contemplation I realised that I needed to sort an issue out here. Was I being paranoid? Did the person generally not like me? Was I the only one noticing?

Today I came in and I realised after speaking with my group for about 20 minutes that this person was nowhere about. I looked around and found her with her boyfriend over the other side of the room and she hadn't moved the whole time.

I felt oddly liberated. My friends were there for me throughout all the time where I sacrificed them due to one person who managed to make me feel intimated.

This reminds me of a quote that says

"No one can make you feel inferior without your permission...Never give it."

I know it's hard sometimes to have confidence when we're feeling our weakest but that's when our confidence makes a real difference. We should never sacrifice anything that makes us happy over something so trivial and unimportant.

And if that girl does someday come back into our group - it will not faze me. I look forward to facing it and trying to make a new friend.