Are There Positives and Negatives to Being Too Loyal?

  Loyalty has a big impact on our relationships and the way we act, however, will being loyal always bring success? Although there are many benefits to loyalty, the negative components should also be considered.

  Being loyal has many positive effects on ourselves and our relationships with others. It shows commitment and reliability, which are big factors of relationships in any situation such as a job or social setting. Commitment shows your interest and devotion towards something, such as a job, and can lead to success. People who are more committed to something tend to do better in the long-run, like putting effort into practicing playing a sport or instrument. Reliability also shows devotion. Having someone to rely on means you have support whenever you need it, in any situation you're going through. These factors of loyalty can help us build and keep strong relationships.

  Although loyalty can be a good thing, too much can change the way you and others see yourself. Being too loyalty causes you to focus and base all your thoughts onto one thing. This will allow people to take advantage of you, resulting in bias opinions and missed opportunities. When you are loyalty to someone of something, people can see this as a way to shift your views to what they believe is right. For example, being loyal to a certain brand of shoes can cause you to think that other brands pale in comparison. This extreme loyalty changes the way you see other things, changing your personal opinions and no longer allowing you to think for yourself. As well, these different opinions take away opportunities you may have previously enjoyed. The best way to avoid all of this is to stay loyal to what you believe is right, rather than allowing your ideas to falter for others.

  Trust is a big factor in loyalty. Being trustworthy and dependable plays an important role in how people see and feel about you, however, are there also negatives in being trustworthy? Though trust is the only way people will feel comfortable with opening up to you, sometimes the expectation of being trustworthy is hard to live up to. Making an error, such as lying about where you are or telling a secret, can change a person's view on you in an instant. People will usually focus on the bad things, whether they're big or small, to outweigh the good you have done for them. Sharing a secret, for example, may seem like it's not a big deal, however when someone has such a high standard for their trust, a small mistake can be a big, lit-up billboard.

Trust is a wonderful thing, but it is important to make sure you can handle both the responsibility of having trust and the consequences of breaking it.

  Though loyalty is a big factor in out relationships with others, we must remember that being loyal to ourselves is just as important, and having a balance between our personal and social loyalty is the best way to benefit from it.