What kind of friend are you?
Do you live your life juicy with a big enthusiastic smile that lifts the spirits of those around you?
Or do you complain about your aches and pains, the politics of the day, or constantly judge others.
Which one would you rather be around?
Enthusiastic people are open to life and invite you to come along for the adventure. The complainers will drain your energy and steal your joy.
Have you ever noticed how you feel after you’ve finished a conversation with a friend or family member who is deep into their own pity-party and desperately trying to take you with them? Misery loves company and all that.
You listen compassionately, because that’s what friends do, but as the conversation goes on, you feel more and more depleted. That’s because they are essentially feeding off of your positive energy. And if you’re not careful, you’ll end up feeling as low as they do and will just pass that on to the next person.
So you have a few choices.
- You can suck it up and just continue to take it. Likely because you don’t want to hurt their feelings, you avoid confrontation or perhaps it’s a family member who has always been that way and they’re not going to change. So you put up with it.
- You can try and divert the conversation to positive topics every time they bring up something negative. If they ask what you’re doing, you can say you’d rather have conversations that will make you both feel better instead of worse.
- You can continue to listen with compassion but not “engage” with the conversation. You recognize that this is their stuff and not yours and you decide that you’re not going to be influenced by it. It is a choice.
- And if none of those are palatable to you, then you need to decide to release them from your life. Sometimes this will happen naturally. As you shift your energy into a more positive, enthusiastic and joyful vibration, they will no longer get the reaction they desire and aren’t able to feed off your energy any longer. They will eventually move on to someone else. And as a bonus, because you are vibrating at a higher level, you likely won’t attract these kinds of “energy vampires” anymore. Again, it’s a choice.
I’ve found that it’s best to build a strong network of enthusiastic friends and family who will provide you with a steady diet of optimism and inspiration.
They will be the ones who feed your passion for life. And they will be the ones who are there to support you on your joy journey!
Love from your Joy Mama,
P.S. Have you downloaded my free eBook yet? Learn how to recognize and eliminate your joy blockers with 8 Barriers to Joy & Abundance.
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