They Might Be Toxic

They Might Be Toxic

A Little Book About Toxic Relationships

Maria Colomy

Copyright © 2022 Maria Colomy All rights reserved

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Cover design by: Maria Colomy

This book is dedicated to all the women and men who made it out, and to all the women and men who will.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To my friend Pilar, who reached out one day for a discussion, and ended up lighting a fire.

To all the abusive, demeaning, unhealed souls who helped me write this book. Without you, I would never know my own tenacity, my own strength, or my own will.

And of course, I’d like to thank me, for my own hard work, for loving myself enough to get out, and stay out.

May the bridges we burn light our way.

Contents

Title Page

Dedication

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Closing thoughts

Introduction

Toxic – the blanket label that has become ever-so-popular for any and all things that we find unpleasant. Right?

Well not here. Beyond the sarcasm and hyperbole, in this text I’ll be addressing one very specific thing, truly toxic, harmful behavior that you may be pacifying because you THINK you’re being polite, keeping the peace, or whatever other co-dependent excuse you’ve chosen.

This is not a how-to manual. I am not a therapist. This is a guide for those who can’t