**Steem4nigeria Accelerator Contest Week 84: Dealing with "Frenemies"

Based on the introduction given, define "frenemy" in your own words

A frenemy is an enemy who poses as a friend inorder to either get information from you that can be used against you or to harm you. Some frenemies are passive - they just want to be in your life to monitor your growth, while others are active, knowing your personal information so they can find ways to plot your downfall.
May God deliver us from them..Amen.

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Have you had any experience with such people who claim to be your friend, if yes, share with us?.

Sighs, hmmm. One particular incident comes to mind.
I had this friend who came very close to death because of frenemies. She had this friend of hers who was her "bestie" - They had attended the same school for years and as such had bonded and built friendship, they ran in the same friend circle.. She went on to pursue her career in marketing while her friend became a medical doctor.
At a time, this my friend became sick and the condition kept going from sick to bad, to worse. On some days, she would regain some strength, and at other times she would relapse again. It was terrible.
At this time, there was a young man who was seeking my friend's hand in marriage. Unknown to us, my friend's bestie was interested in the guy, but played cool.
Since her bestie was in the medical field, Normally, when her family members would feel symptomatic, she would prescribe medication or what to eat and they would regain their health, so she was trusted absolutely when it came to treating my friends family, so it was no big deal that she was the go to person when my friend became sick, but this time around, my friend wasn't getting any better.

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Everytime she called to complain, she would assure her that she will be fine. After some time and there was no change, we went to see the doctors and it was by chance that we took some of the drugs she had been administering, only for the doctors to tell us that those drugs would only worsen the case.
When my friend finally confronted her "bestie", and showed her proof, she then confessed that she wanted to use the medicines to slowly keep her sick and worsen her condition so she could have enough time to make a move on her man.
Ahhhhhh😱😱😱😱 because of man??? That episode opened my eyes ohh, and taught me a HUGGGE lesson.

How can one guard ourselves against frenemies early enough before they harm us.

The truth is that frenemies don't write their titles on their head. You can have people who have been in your life for a long time and suddenly jealousy that's been in the heart springs up and causes a problem. Even though they don't show, I believe there are subtle signs that one can see or notice and become very cautious of some friends.

• When your intuition begins to give you strong uncomfortable feelings about a person, don't ignore it.

Who is a true friend and how can you identify one?

In my understanding, Only God gives true friends, but I believe true friends will have these traits;

• Loyalty to you
• Willingness to stick their necks out for each other no matter the situation.
• True friends will always be there when the going gets tough.

I invite @beewrites @pandoradiary @jovita30 to share their thoughts on this subject.