We all have them. Those friends who don’t call you unless you call them. The ones who always promised to keep in touch from an old company or across the country and yet we never hear from them unless we approach them first.

If you’re an author, you may have those people you proudly promote ad nauseum and never get a shout out in return.

The question is – what do we do about them? I’m playing Devil’s Advocate here. We’re all human and it must rankle now and then when you feel you’re the one always doing the work. Is it selfish to expect a modicum of ‘love’ back from someone you’ve been constantly mentioning in Facebook, Twitter posts, and expounding the brilliance of their book/blog/business?

It’s a bit like Christmas presents. We all say we give them to bring someone else pleasure and don’t expect anything back. But should we get a little irked when time after time our good gestures are not reciprocated, even in a tiny fashion?

I can only speak from my own experience and say I’m not fussed about the whole present thing. My kids don’t earn a fortune and I’d never expect them to bankrupt themselves or take out a payday loan just to provide me with something under the Christmas tree, or even a birthday present. I’m more annoyed at the ‘constantly promoting others who never do anything back’. I’m being dead honest, and I may take flack for it. And as the title asks- what do we do about it? Do we stop promoting those people and giving them their moment of warm recognition? Do we continue to give them a shout-out and ignore the fact it’s always one-sided?

I guess it depends on how big of a person you wish to be. I tend to be the sort who likes being the bigger person, so I’ll probably continue doing what I do. Call me a softie, and a patsy LOL. I try not to give something to get something back but I’m also human and every now and then it’d be nice to see people who’ve said they support me, do a bit of it, even if in a small way.

I’m thinking this topic might cause some controversial points of view. We’re all different and some of you out there might feel stronger than I do about this. Some of you may even see it as no brainer and not even worry about it.

I’d truly appreciate your feedback and thoughts on this one because I think it will make an interesting conversation 😊

Here are some other links on this subject you may find useful

https://socialpronow.com/blog/one-sided-friendship/

http://www.claytonarnall.com/the-3-levels-of-friendships-how-to-spot-a-one-sided-relationship/