We should always try to build relationships with, work with, or engage, those people around us; it is how local, national and international societies are built. However, when some people bring too much negativity into our lives then walking away could be the best thing we will ever do.
A great quote from a great man.
It inspired me to write this post. However, I struggled a little with the writing itself. I don’t want anyone reading it to feel that, when I refer to ‘negative people’, I mean anyone who feels in a bad place due to the symptoms of an illness. I don’t.
I mean people with a more negative outlook on life in general. People who seem to only have an ability to sap the energy from others through their general approach to life and/or their work. People who generally lack the ability to bring good feeling to others through goodwill, compassion and empathy; thus people who can drain the energy and emotional well-being from us when we come into contact with them.
These sorts of negative people can trigger, or worsen, the difficult emotions we sometimes feel. So I believe that we should all do our best to move away from them or move them out of our lives. Sometimes, without us even knowing it, people with that more negative influence can pull us down and make us feel worse; because ‘they have a problem for every solution’.
So I would whole heartedly say, and really believe, that the people we keep around us - in life and work - should be those who make us feel better. Those who help take us forward.
Of course, we should try to have some people around us, who can challenge us positively and constructively to be better. Better versions of ourselves. There is an infinite amount that we can learn from others’ perspectives, experience and in-built wisdom. Some people help us raise our own game; so that we get better through continuous learning - these people are different to negative people because they generally have our best interests at heart (even if unconsciously).
I strongly believe in showing compassion and empathy, however I have also learned to give negative people their marching orders, or dramatically reduce the time I spend with them; because I have found that they can take up too much headspace and spend too much of my emotional bank balance.
The net gain in emotional well-being from this shift has been a great thing for me.