Having negative people around you can be frustrating. They tend to suck all the joy out of you. It’s not that they are evil and have bad intentions, but whenever they start talking to you or even just around you, you can almost feel yourself being drained, your mood starting to ruin itself. Negative people can be harmful in a sense that they can cast off their effect on you. Continuously being around a negative person is definitely not healthy. They will always be busy criticizing and complaining about one thing or another and will put forward any simplest of solutions. Here is how to deal with them in an effective way.
You don’t have to engage with them
Granted, you cannot control someone’s negativity, but it’s totally up to you whether or not you choose to interact and engage with them. Remember that you are not obliged to sit and listen to the never ending complaints. Stay with them long enough, and the negative energy will definitely start affecting your life. Set up your boundaries and maintain minimum contact with such negative people.
Keep the topics light
Some people’s negativity tends to activate when certain topics like relationship, work are brought up. This might be due to the problem they are facing in that particular aspect of life. If you must hang out with this individual, do not bring the heavy topics. Keep the topics light. Basic stuffs like new movies, food, mutual friends, daily activities can help the mood going, and exclude negativity out the door.
Stop thinking too much
Negative people might speak or do certain things which might be beyond rational grasp. Stop trying to make sense of everything. When you start pondering over the negative actions of someone, you will be wasting your valuable time and energy, while also welcoming negativity in your own life. Stop analyzing everything and do not let yourself be emotionally invested.
Detach yourself from the conversation
Negative people might say just about anything to get your reaction and get you worked up. Your emotional investment is exactly what they feed on. In such situations, just ignore them and keep smiling. Leave the scene, even if only in your head. You need to distant yourselves in order to ban the toxicity trying to get to you. This might be easier said than done. But, it is definitely worth it to keep a cool head.
Do not take responsibility for their negativity
Whenever someone starts unloading their problems to you, you might feel like you should help them solve the problems. Normally, to a friend, yes. But, to the constant negativity caster, you are not obliged to do anything. Besides, they are not looking for the solution. If they had, they would have found it out. They just want you to be sucked in to their drama and drain your energy. It’s not your responsibility to fix their life, stand your ground and accept that they should be trying to fix their life instead of complaining every day.
Trying to value yourself
Do you feel like you are there for someone to unload their problems? Do you feel valued in that? If so, you need to change the way you feel about yourself. Find some other ways to help people, listening to their problems day in and day out is not going to help them or you. In fact, your energy and every bit of joy will be sucked out of you, without you even realizing it.
Do not spend alone time with negative person
Negative person will cast off their effect on you within minutes. Even if you absolutely must socialize with them, have someone with you. More the merrier. That way you do not have to listen to them all alone. And different people tend to bring out different sides of people. May be a mutual friend can bring out the positivity in that person.
Help them realize
Some people are so negative, especially about certain aspects of their life, that they will ruin everything else too. If you are dealing with a family member or a close friend, going through a negative phase, try and recognize what the problem is. If they have been going through a relationship tragedy, help them meet new people. Smallest amount of effort from your side might help them get back on track. But, remember that you don’t have to go out of comfort zone trying to fix their life, you can guide them at best, you can’t carry them to the happy finish line.