How many times have you found yourself in the presence of a negative person? Did you start out in a great mood and suddenly find yourself mirroring their behavior? Did you find your mood altered just by being in their presence? It's easy to get sucked in, once the cloud of negativity starts looming over your head as well...


The more you're around them, the easier and quicker it gets. How many times have you heard, "misery loves company?" It's an old saying, but true, nonetheless. Now it seems there is scientific evidence to back up what you already knew. It's a phenomena called mirror neurons. Creating Passionate Users writes about this in a very interesting and eye opening article. How do you keep yourself from being sucked in to their "whoa is me" perception of life?

Here's 7 tips to keep negativity at bay:

5. Be aware of words.
What words does Negative Nelly use? Empowering or disempowering?
Do you find you start to use those same words in your vocabulary? Words you never used before? Sometimes you don't even realize you've started to sound just like them.
Be aware of them and eliminate any that are less than empowering.

4. Be aware of tone.
Remember the exercise where you take a sentence and put the emphasis on the first word and recite? Then the second word, and so on?
By emphasizing a different word each time you recite that sentence, the meaning was different.
It's not only what's being said, but also how that makes a difference.

3. Be aware of how you feel when around this person. (note that "be aware" is the theme here?)
Does this person rob you of your energy?
Do you feel like you've run a mental marathon after being around them? Do you like this feeling? Probably not...
Acknowledging the feeling that "goes against the grain" is a step toward freeing yourself from negativity.

2. Be grateful. (you knew this had to be in the list, didn't you?)
No matter how much you're around a negative person, it's virtually impossible to feel negativity when you're focusing on what's good in your life and how grateful you are for it.
It's like a protective shield around you, shielding you from the negative crap being cast upon you...
Try it sometime... You'll be amazed!

1. RUN like the wind!
Sometimes you have to cut the ties with chronic offenders. The life suckers. Energy vampires, if you will.
As hard as it may seem, sometimes that's your only way of eliminating the stress of negativity in your life if it always originates with the same person.
Since cutting ties isn't always feasible, tip #2 about gratitude can be your salvation.
But sometimes, the best thing you can do for yourself is to simply move on.

Did you ever hear the term, "you are what you eat?" Well, keep this in mind as well: You are what your mind absorbs, so become aware of what you're absorbing and choose wisely... The quality of your life depends on it.

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