When you consider your happiness, you likely believe it’s linked to your wealth, beauty, and position in life. Conversely, it’s connected to the quality of relationships around you. Humans are social creatures and having friends in your inner circle is essential for a well-rounded life. Negative people can be challenging to manage, and these folks’ constant pessimism and negativity can be difficult to handle.
Individuals who see the glass as half empty can affect your mood, give you anxiety, and cause you to experience distrust in the world around you. It’s also challenging to dream and conquer your goals when their negativity crushes every plan in your life. It isn’t easy to be positive when you’re around constant pessimism. Too many times, you might find yourself being uncaring, anxious, indifferent, or even distrustful of others.
Why Negative People Should Be Ignored?
Negativity is toxic, as it tends to rub off onto others. Have you ever left tuna salad in the refrigerator for too long? Over time, bacterium gets into this fish and causes an intense aroma.
Anything not sealed in an airtight container can absorb this odor as the bacteria becomes airborne. The same thing happens when you fill your inner circle with negative people. It won’t be long before their chronic pessimism infects you like poison. Here are some reasons why you should avoid negative folks.
1. Negative People Drain Your Energy
If you’ve ever had a breaker kick in your home, you know the classic flickering lights. The breaker box warns you that you’re using too much electricity, and the flickering comes from overloading the current. Hanging with negative people will do the same thing, as they tend to drain the life and energy right out of you.
Negative folks can change how you think and feel about matters, especially if you’re with them for long periods. They can alter how you view the world if you listen to them. You can come to work feeling amazing and ready to conquer the world, but the coworker next to you might be having a horrible day. Their pessimism can quickly bring your mood down to their level.
2. Negativity Is Judgmental
How often did your parents tell you that you’re known by the company you keep? It’s true, even in nature, birds of a feather only flock with others of their kind. When was the last time you saw a blue jay hanging out with a pigeon? No, they travel with their kind, as it’s their instinct.
When you surround yourself with people who are chronic naysayers, you soon find that their beliefs rub off on you. In the court system, there’s something called guilt by association. According to the Legal Dictionary, this happens when you’re with someone who committed a crime, as you’re also charged. While you’re not going to be indicted for hanging with negative people, you will undoubtedly find that they drag you down with them.
The folks around you know the people with toxic negativity, and when you hang with these individuals, it can damage your credibility. Being guilty by association can work against you in the workplace and social circles.
3. They’re Challenging to Get Rid Of
Have you ever had a pest control issue in your home? Some insects seem impossible to eliminate. Take, for instance, roaches. They tend to multiply and come out of the woodwork. Once they get into your home, eliminating them is a costly problem.
When you have negative people in your inner circle, getting rid of them is challenging. Like those pesky bugs, they tend to cling to you and contaminate everything they touch. You may find that you are loyal to them as they’ve been your friend since high school, or you shared an experience. However, it’s essential to pick the folks you surround yourself with wisely, as it may be the thing that keeps you down.
4. Negative People Can Affect Your Health
A study under the direction of Dr. Lisa R. Yanek and John Hopkins found that chronic negativity has a dramatic influence on your risk of heart disease. The research discovered that negative people are 13 percent more likely to develop coronary artery disease than optimistic people. Experts always say that stress kills, so this study shows that staying on the sunny side of life is less risky.
5. There’s Less Drama
Some folks love drama. Have you ever seen someone worthy of an Oscar for their performance over the simplest of matters? They magnify everything to epic proportions because their mindset is geared toward the dramatic.
If anything unexpected happens to them, it can tank their mood for a week. Something as simple as a flat tire might send them into a tailspin. A flat tire is frustrating, but the positive person fixes it and moves on.
Negative people have a challenging time seeing past some circumstances, and they use one bad incident as a springboard for more chronic negativity. When the people in your life are constantly in an upheaval about things, it can affect your mood too. Who needs any extra drama?
6. Negativity Reminds You That Life Is Too Short to Be Miserable
If you live on this earth for 70 years, you will have 25,550 days to make a difference. While it seems like a lot, time flies by. Wouldn’t it be better to fill your days with laughter and happiness rather than misery and dark clouds?
Your life is what you make it, and the people you hang out with are a big part of your overall level of happiness. Why waste any precious time being miserable?
7. Negative People Stagnate Your Growth
Parents have a significant job raising their children to be well-rounded adults. They must pour them positivity and encouragement so they can grow and flourish. According to a study by Walden University, words are powerful tools that will lift or tear down. Any remark made to a child that is derogatory and messes with their esteem is considered verbal abuse.
The study documents the impact that harsh words can have on the psyche. A child who grows up in a home where they’re told they will never be anything will believe those words. Conversely, a kid that grows up being constantly praised and thinking they can conquer the world has a higher chance of success.
If you want to grow and reach your goals, you will kick negative people out of your life. Most flowers grow only with direct sunshine, so you don’t need dark clouds to overshadow your success.
8. There’s No Support
Sitting at a picnic table is a fun way to eat a meal in the summer. However, the lack of back support can be challenging after any period. You might start to feel stiff and develop muscular aches from the lack of support from the seat. Negativity has the same impact on your mind.
As you go through life, you need a strong support system. Positive folks have your back and will be by your side through thick and thin. Consequently, the negative person won’t’ encourage or support you. They will be more apt to knock you down further.
9. Negative People Drag You Down
If you’ve raised a teenager, you deserve a reward. Young adults have a challenging time today, and making good relationships can be difficult. You can always tell when your kid is hanging out with someone who isn’t the best influence, as their behavior will change.
Your once honor roll student might have failing grades, and there might be in-school suspensions and detentions. Who you let into your inner circle dramatically affects your life. They will encourage you to think and do things you usually wouldn’t consider.
There’s safety in numbers, and sometimes finding a friend of any caliber still means you have someone to talk to. However, you must be very selective about the people you call friends, as not everyone has your best interests at heart.
10. Negativity Alters Your Thought Processes
You can’t hang out with negative people and expect a life full of positivity. Pessimistic folks will emphasize the negative things you say, and they will give you 101 reasons why any toxic thinking is justified. However, a positive person will reinforce your life with optimism.
Even when the whole world is against you and everything looks bleak, the positive person will help you see the silver lining in the darkest cloud.
Final Thoughts on Negative People
Every day you make choices for your life. You choose what to eat, whether you’ll go to work, and who you will let into your inner circle. Negative people have a skewed view of the world around them, and much of their pessimism derives from experience.
When you feed into the negativity and drama, you will soon find that you become just like the friend everyone avoids. It’s easier to end relationships with colleagues who are toxic than with family. Still, you can set boundaries for people you can’t avoid. The less time you spend with chronically pessimistic folks, the better your life will be.
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