I was going to write an extra long post, but in the end I realized that there’s just one way.

Avoid them. If you can’t, talk to them. If you can’t, ignore them.

Now, we all know negative people, they’re not just the ones that complain openly and are clearly pessimist. There are some negative people, far more dangerous, that are negative in a subtle way, and these are the people who do not support your ideas, those who start a sentence with a “no” (even though it’s implicit) to remark they are always right, just them and no one else, those people who gossip meanly on others to feel better with themselves. I could write an endless list, but I guess you got the idea.

These are obviously people who don’t know they’re unhappy, with big needs of affection and confidence maybe. But you know better than I do that you can’t help someone who didn’t ask for help, so why bother?

As soon as you realize you’re surrounded by such people, avoid them, detach, go away, just try not to be around them anymore. If you can’t because it’s a friend or a relative, try to talk openly to them. If this still don’t work or you can’t talk openly (because you know it won’t do the trick or maybe bcause it’s a coworker you’re not so confident with) just ignore them. Aknowledge that that’s how they’re made and don’t let their negativity upset you. As Eleanor Roosevelt put it, no one can make you feel inferior without your permission.

Put the word you feel the most in place of “inferior”.

But most of all: saying nothing and trying to “deal” with it just because it might get unpleasant? I did it, and I can grant you it doesn’t worth the while. But now I’ve learned my lesson 😉

So? What about you? Any anedocte you’d like to share?

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