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The Best Way to Manage or Deal With Negative People Very few people realize how the people they associate with can positively or negatively affect their health. If you've ever been around a motivational speaker, for example, have you noticed how after listening to that person you feel as though you can conquer the world? On the other hand, if you've had occasion to be in the company of a negative person, you might remember how tired you felt around that person. That tiredness you felt was physical manifestation of the negative energy that person was transmitting to you. At various stages in your life, you will meet negative people. Recognizing the behaviour of a negative person, realizing it for what it is and learning to manage or deal with negative people - at work, at home, on a committee, in your church - will help you maintain your inner peace and preserve your health. Your mind and body operate very much like a computer system; Garbage In, Garbage Out (GIGO). If you eat the right foods and exercise regularly, you will look and feel good physically and mentally. If you keep company with positive individuals you are more likely to experience positive emotions and have a positive outlook on life. This does not mean that you will not have challenges and disappointments in life. What it does mean, is that you will handle or confront those challenges and disappointments in a positive manner that will allow you to make good of the challenge or disappointment. Avoid negative people like the plague!They sap all your energy and steal your joy. Nothing is ever good for a negative person and there is always something wrong with something or someone. If you bring a negative person to a lovely place with breath-taking scenery, they're likely to say "Oh the view is ok, but it took so long to get here" or "I was expecting it to be more scenic". If you take them to the best restaurant with the most delicious foods, they'll complain that the food could have been served hotter or how they could have made 'xyz' dish much better or what 'abc' dish was missing. If you take them to a Grammy Award winning movie with an excellent plot and the best actors, they'll complain that the cinema was too cold or that 'x' actor had on too much makeup or looked too fat. If you take them to see Olympic figure skating with the world's best ice skaters and world class ice dancing performances, they'll complain that the colour of the female skater's outfit wasn't right or the couple skating didn't look good together. Well you get the picture! Something can't just be good, full stop, for negative people. They always could do it better or find some minute, infinitesimal problem or flaw. Believe me! There is nothing you can do to change a negative person. Just safeguard yourself, your emotions and your health. Stay away! Keep them at arm's length! Now sometimes despite your best efforts, you cannot avoid them because they work or live with you. Nightmare! So what do you do if you're living or working with a negative person or negative people? Here is some useful advice. 1. Reduce the amount of time spent in that person's company. Restrict the time spent with that person to only what is absolutely necessary to complete the project at work or complete the meal at the dining table. Do not spend any more time than is absolutely necessary in their company. You need to be military about it. 2. Politely excuse yourself from their company. Go find some task to do where you will be out of their reach or retire to the privacy of your room or office or some other space where you will be undisturbed. 3. Change the conversation topic. You should have learned by now the conversation topics that trigger negativity with this person. Stay clear of those topics when you are in the company of this negative person. Whenever they try to bring up that topic which leads to negativity, quickly change the subject. When you change the subject, though, avoid deep or controversial topics. Stick to light topics and keep changing the subject so they don't have time to dwell on any one topic and dig out reasons to be negative. 4. Avoid getting into an argument at all costs. An argument is always icing on the cake for a negative person because then they've succeeded in ruining your mood. If they throw a comment your way that makes you 'see red'. Stop. Smile to yourself and do not respond. Often that comment was deliberately meant to rile you up. So do not give them the satisfaction of evoking the response they wanted - your anger and an argument. 5. Tune them out mentally. Do not give the negative person control over your mental space. You may not have control over what they say or do but you do have control over your own mind and what you do. Tune them out in your mind by thinking about something or somewhere pleasant in order to counter their negative energy. This is by far the most powerful tool to deal with a negative person, especially when you are in a situation where you cannot change the subject or get away; like a meeting with your boss or in the company of a nagging spouse. In conclusion, I will remind you of what you ought to know, with the wise words of Hippocrates, the ancient Greek physician: "Men ought to know that from nothing else but the brain come joys, delights, laughter and sports, and sorrows, griefs, despondency, and lamentations." A negative person is an unhappy person. So guard your mind and by extension your health against negative people, whether at work or at home. "Your career and life will change for the better when you learn to surround yourself with positive people and keep the negative ones away (Author unknown)." For additional tips, tools and resources to improve and maintain your overall health visit http://www.mental-physical-spiritual-health.com or check out our weekly blog at MPSE Health Blog
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Heidi_E_Vincent
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