Bad friends are like decaying teeth. Without proper care, a tooth can deteriorate, causing pain. If left unchecked, the decay spreads, affecting neighboring teeth.

After a while, the only solution is extraction. Similarly, if you continually forgive a friend’s transgressions, they’ll care little for the pain they cause. And so, you must endure the discomfort of cutting them out.

Just as the needle pierces the gum to numb you from the pain, so too must you steel yourself emotionally and put ice in your heart to detoxify your social life. Rip them out root and stem!

As the pliers grip the tooth and begin to yank, you must calm the mind and recall why this course of action is necessary. If you allow disloyalty to take root, it will tarnish other aspects of your life.

Now that the tooth is removed and the rotten character is out of your life, you may think it’s all over now, but you’d be mistaken.

You must stay the course, the rage and anesthetic that numbed you to the point of conclusion will wear off and you mustn’t interfere with the empty crater left behind. Allowing toxicity a way back will only lead to further decay. Much like bad teeth, bad people waste no time festering all you have left.

In conclusion.

At the tender age of twenty, I experienced a wisdom tooth gone bad. It had grown incorrectly, causing immense pain, as they often do for many people. I have a natural resistance to local anesthetic, so the removal process was agonizing.

The ordeal taught me about pain and people. As the dentist extracted my tooth, I closed my eyes, allowing the pain to wash over me, and thought, “It’s like cutting a bad friend out of your life; it’s painful but necessary. It will soon be over and done with.”

Needless to say, I have no regrets, and I don’t often look back.

Varniverus Gwyndledore