Article: You should not engage with people who treat you in a manner you find personally unacceptable. When coping with fake friends, work on identifying what behaviors you will not tolerate. If your fake friends behave in these ways, disengage with them right away. You can identify unacceptable behaviors by the way they make you feel. If you continually experience arguments with this person that are not resolved, they may be seriously violating your boundaries. A fake friend may negate how you feel regarding their treatment, and insist you're being hypersensitive. You should also not tolerate any behavior that makes you feel tense, anxious, or uncomfortable. Behaviors that hurt your self-esteem or sense of self-worth are also unacceptable. Fake friends can sometimes cross the line from frenemies or competitive friends to outright bullies. If a relationship has become bullying in nature, it's important you strongly consider ending it. Learn and watch for the signs of bullying in a friendship. Bullies tend to have very low self-esteem. Therefore, they seek out people to dump their insecurities and frustrations on. If a friend is becoming a bully, he or she will be increasingly critical of you. He or she may also become temperamental and consistently say and do things that hurt your feelings. It can be hard to tell when someone has crossed the line into bullying, but it's important to be vigilant. Bullies can do great damage to self-esteem over time. Pay attention to how someone treats you. If they repetitively violate your boundaries and do not offer an apology, this person is probably bullying you. These kinds of relationships are usually best severed. You want to identify true friends so you can better identify the poor behavioral patterns of fake friends. True friends are genuinely caring and supportive. They can help you identify how you deserve to be treated. A friend should make you feel consistently happy. Friends should be exciting to be around and should always be kind and respectful of your boundaries. Unlike fake friends, friends value you simply for being the person you are. They do not expect you to be anyone you're not. Friends may offer constructive feedback on occasion, or let you know when they're worried or concerned about your behavior. Unlike fake friends, however, friends do not actively want you to feel bad. They just want what's best for you and always speak out of genuine concern for your wellbeing. Fake friends are often co-dependent people. They may be manipulative emotionally. They crave friendships for their own sense of stability and do not understand how to truly value others. You may not notice someone is a fake friend as codependency can often be masked as love or concern, and is rarely aggressive. If you're in a codependent, somewhat fake friendship, you need to take steps to address the issue. A codependent friend will rarely be directly assertive. In fact, they may often agree to do what you want to do. However, later on there will be consequences for their compliance. They may complain later about disliking the things you did together and may begin to make increasingly unreasonable demands during social events. A codependent friend will have difficulty accepting responsibility for their actions. They may lash out at you or deny culpability if you call them out on the ways they hurt you. If you're in a codependent relationship, you need to strongly consider whether this relationship is worth your time. Codependent relationships can be exhausting and, in the long run, damaging. Fake friends will often engage in behaviors known as emotional blackmail. It's very important to tune out this kind of behavior and focus on your own sense of happiness and security. Emotional blackmail is a form of manipulation in which someone uses anger, rage, or shame to get you to behave the way they want. Fake friends can be particularly savvy at emotional blackmail, as they may hide negative comments under the guise of compliments. For example, you may do something your friend dislikes and he or she may say, "I really thought you were better than that. I can't believe you of all people would engage in that kind of behavior." Emotional blackmailers may also threaten you with anger or warnings if you don't behave the way they want. For example, your friend may say something like, "I don't know what I'll do if you don't come to this party with me. Your rejection may sting so much I'll end up drinking too much." Emotional blackmailers try to make you feel like you are responsible for their behavior. If someone is blackmailing you emotionally, do not engage. End conversations that are manipulative in nature and refuse to return texts or emails attempting to blackmail you.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Identify what behaviors are unacceptable for you. Watch for signs of bullying. Pay attention to how real friends treat you. Watch for co-dependency. Protect yourself from emotional blackmail.
Article: Yarn, of course, comes in a wide variety of colors. Which colors you choose vastly changes how your final blanket, pillow, or other creation will look. Carefully choose your colors to get the effect you want. Get the "gypsy" look by pairing red, dark purple, pink, yellow, bright blue and spring green. Get the "old country" look by making bright squares but putting them together with a black border. Get a classic American look by combining, white, red, blue, and pale yellow. If you don't want the granny square look but you want to still use the method to get a fast blanket, use only two colors (white and blue, for example) to create a more subtle look. . Once you know your colors, you'll want to pick out a good yarn in the best material for you. If you're making a blanket for a baby, use the softest yarn possible. If making something more durable, such as a pet-bed cover, use acrylic. The size of the hook should always be stated in the pattern you want to use or listed for the weight of yarn you purchased. If you're worried about the hook size, do a test patch with a few rows of double crochet. If you have thicker yarn, use a thicker hook, and if you have thinner yarn use a thinner hook.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Choose a color scheme. Obtain yarn of your choice Obtain an appropriately sized crochet hook to use.
Article: One of the things that kills your defense is getting tired and dropping your hands down, which leaves you unprotected. The best way to train so that you don't get tired as fast is to perform all of these defensive techniques while you hold light dumbbells. Your arms will build strength in the muscles that keep your hands up. You can also throw punches while you hold the dumbbells to build up strength behind your punches. Jumping rope is great for overall cardio conditioning and for increasing the dexterity of your feet. It helps you build good footwork and improve your speed in the ring. Switch up the jump rope exercises you do by jumping on both feet, then a few jumps on your left foot, and a few on your right foot. Push yourself to get more jumps without stopping. You can also incorporate more complex moves like butt kickers, high knees, or skips into your jump rope routine. Sparring is important to implementing all of the defensive techniques you've learned. Don't try to beat your opponent during sparring, but try to be effective with your defense. It's also important to spar with as many different people as you can to get used to defending against various fighting styles.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Hold dumbbells while you practice. Jump rope every day. Spar with an opponent and focus on defense rather than attack.