Safe Guarding Yourself from Negative People
Very few people are really ‘negative’, as in negative about everything ALL the time. Most people are negative about some things but positive and happy about others. This may seem small and semantic point, but it is fundamental to recognizing that for example, although someone is commonly known as the office misery they have it in themselves to change and to be positive about something; therefore making some effort to cheer them up and get them to look on the bright side is worthwhile.
There is no suggestion that YOU should take responsibility for fixing a family or friend’s problem and accept that you won’t put their world to rights in one evening, but if you are willing to help this person who is acting negatively, the following suggestions may help them on their way to becoming more positive:
Distract their negativity; rather than arguing with it
- Get them to have a Schadenfreude moment- ask them to compare their life/situation to other people who are worse off.
- Ask them what might be the potential upside of their circumstance
- Put on some music that you know they will find uplifting
- Get them out into the daylight, get them moving –this is a great way to isolate them as well. “Would you like to go for a walk?”
- Tell them to let it all out! Lend them a punch bag or a drum set, get them to chop some logs for you… some serious physical activity often helps to get the anger or frustration out.
- Give them a treat. Avoid excessive alcohol or creating an expectation “that every time I’m grumpy Daddy buys me a pony” but something distracting to the issue in hand.
- Get them to focus on the future and start to plan what they can do to change it and make things better. Ask them to determine what would be a satisfactory outcome, and then look at what steps they need to take to try and bring about the outcome.
If people in your life don’t seem to WANT to be positive or you just don’t care enough to help them change, then you MUST change your response to their negativity. Try the following:
Changing Your State: if negative person takes you by surprise, self-talk into a positive state in order to deal with it.
Daydream: research suggests that the part of the brain responsible for feeling pleasure can be activated just by thinking about something pleasurable. Go to your happy place when around someone who is being miserable.
Don’t react: change your energy to the opposite of theirs- calm, cool, loving, soft. Bring them down off the edge-then try to change their perspective.
Surround yourself with a white or pink light that cannot be penetrated.
Crystals: crystals contain healing energy and omit vibrations. Carry them with you to protect yourself. – Rose Quartz –good healing powers.
Self- talk: if you know you are going to be around someone who is negative or has negative tendencies- be prepared and talk yourself into a positive state so their mood can’t affect yours.
Law of Attraction: attract more of the right people into your world so there are less negative people around you. You get back what you put out.
