What to do when you are surrounded by Negativity?

In the past days I wrote about negativity and it seems as though this is a topic that really many people have issues with – either because they themselves realize they are negative or because they are generally positive and see that the people in their surrounding have a lot of negativity inside. What should you do when you have the feeling that you are the only one far and wide who has positive thoughts?

It is not a nice situation. You greet your colleague with a smile and get grunted at in reply. You make an enthusiastic suggestion to a friend for holiday plans but the other one only finds reasons against going to any of the three places you would like to see. You happily show your family the new pieces of decoration you are planning to buy but there is no interest or even a loudly-voiced dislike. Whenever you present your thoughts in front of your partner, you hear that your ideas are unrealistic and your experiences are irrelevant.

It is frustrating. Wherever you go, there is negativity. Slowly you feel your own positivity slip out of your hands, see in the mirror how your smile fades, hesitate to tell anybody what you are thinking or feeling and thus you retreat, change your outer shell to a cool, negative mask, so that your childlike, happy heart doesn’t get hurt anymore by the negativity of the surrounding.

Don’t let this happen to you! Don’t let the negativity from the outside, from others, ruin your positivity and make you unhappy as a result. But what can you do?

You will never be able to control other people’s feelings, actions and reactions. You can only watch yourself and what you do and feel. It may sound difficult but stay the positive person that you are. Having said that, also make others aware of what they are doing to you! Remain polite and nice but after you have once more been told that your happiness is too much for them, explain them that they constantly put you down and that positivity never seems appropriate around them. Ask them whether negativity really is the answer to everything and remind them of the fact that a team of two or more people will reach further if everyone pulled in the same direction!

At work, you may have to deal with some negative people and such words may be lost on them. Within family and friends however, people will care. Those who love you will notice that you are serious about it and they may also realize that the consequence of you feeling down due to their reaction may be that you distance yourself from them!

Try to spend time with those who understand and who make effort to change. Surround yourself with people who want to be positive and who understand your need for positive company. This means that you may have to let go of some people who are simply too negative – but those who really care will be thankful to you one day for opening their eyes!