Our human species is all about relationships.
What are these relationships? The relationship we personally have with ourselves, the one we have with our environment, and the relationships we have with every single person who touches our life.
Some of those relationships are nurturing. The nurturing relationships positively influence us, put us in a state of joy, and we usually talk or think about those individuals in highly positive words.
Other relationships are toxic. Toxic relationships poison us, put us in a negative state of mind or emotion. We usually talk or think about these individuals in negative words. Or we find ourselves making an awful lot of excuses for them, or validating their actions with "understanding" where they are or they came from. These poisonous relationships will usually bring a lot of drama, whether directly or indirectly, into our lives.
By making a simple two sided list, and putting everyone we have a relationship with in it on one side or the other, whether at work, home, social groups, online, or school, etc., we can start having some clarity on the patterns we are falling into. Obviously some people won't fit in either or will fit in both ;) Remember, this is just an exercise where we put the "main" energy we detect or share with the person recently. It may have been radically different a year ago, or it might be very varied, changing all the time.
At this point, if there are people in the poisonous side of the paper, it's important NOT to fall into judgment or guilt ourselves, for having these relationships, or the people we are playing these low level games with. This little exercise is not about judgment, or even action. It is about becoming conscious and aware of what is happening in our lives.