- About the city and the government – traffic is bad; roads are dirty; power failures don’t stop; the government is corrupt; business is down; inflation is up…
- About people – she is disorganized; he is slow; they are not ambitious; she doesn’t get it; he doesn’t listen; how can people be so insensitive…
- About future predictions – this country won’t make any progress; weather is only going to get worse; business will get tougher; you won’t understand…
And I really didn’t understand how some people have a mission in
life – to spread gloom and pessimism, and how discussing any of this would help
anyone. I wondered if there’s such a thing as ‘brain mask’ that can protect you
from the affects of negativity – like a face mask that protects you from catching
germs. Here’s my strategy to deal with negative people, depending on the person
and the situation:
1. Avoid them as much as
possible. They can easily infect your heart and mind before you know it.
2. It’s not always possible
or easy to avoid them. So if you do come in contact with a prophet of gloom,
disinfect yourself quickly. Remind yourself of the good things in your life and
be grateful.
3. Change the subject. Try
to get the person to focus on something positive. Rarely works though.
4. Preach. Some useful
questions to ask: ‘Is this a problem you can solve, or a situation you must
accept?’ ‘If it’s a problem, what will you do about it?’ ‘If it’s a situation,
when will you get used to it?’ ‘What do you expect?’
If you wouldn’t allow
anyone to put garbage on your body,
Why would you allow anyone
to put garbage in your mind?
I Thank my dear friend Mush Panjwani for this piece of brilliance:(www.mushpanjwani.com)
