How would you deal with people who are always NEGATIVE?

Rule 1: It's not possible to change others unless they want to change themselves. Rule 2: You can change yourself. Follow these 2 rules. Accommodate and change the way you respond (not react) to the negative person. The more negative they are, the more positive you must become so that your influence can rub off on them rather than the other way round. Try for a few days. Hopefully it becomes a habit and maybe you might rub off some positivity on them. Be strong too, and persevere!

One time I gave a birthday present to a miserable person. It was book about how to become happy. Laughter is good way to make a negative person feel better. A funny joke to set off a group of people laughing would make the person feel a bit brighter. When I was at college a friend said people on London Underground looked miserable. He made funny faces at lots of the commuters. He also tried making silly noises. Me and other students found it ever so amusing to hear about what he tried to do. He was a happy go lucky type of person. My mom asks "Who has the better time in life the optimist or the pessimist"? Then she says the answer is the optimist. She is right about that.

Hiya M., No matter how hard you try you are most likely not going to win. I tried that, have tried several things and they are still the same way. In fact if you try to talk to them they close up like a clam and do not want to know you or speak to you just because of that. If you do not want to be like them most often they will consider you odd as well and cast you out like a sort of black sheep. xxx

It is very hard to stay around negative people especially if they are apart of your family and you have to see them everyday. In that case it would be helpful to talk with that individual about how their negativity affects other members in the family. In those cases it is important to remember what you want and to go after it. We can't let other people control our lives.

Let me tell you there are already more than one negative people in my family.They have been in my family and so I have to remain in their company most of the time.They talk negative.I admit,often their negative talk influences me and I begin feeling disappointed and depressed.But when I start feeling negative,I immediately start thinking positive so that I may get hopeful again.I have already read a lot of books on self improvement and know when negative thoughts start entering your mind,you should shut the door of your mind on them and nip them in the bud.Just a type of pre-emptive strike.I think this is the only way to deal with negative people and remain untouched by their negativity.

I ignore those negative people. I don't want to be attached with this kind of behavior. I rather be alone and be optimistic than being with them.

For the positive people, I think we should work harder to stay positive so that even if there are many people around us who says negative things, it wouldn't affect us. Yes, it is very hard to stay positive when people around us is depressing but we can't change how other people think and the things they say so the only way is to change ourselves to protect ourselves from these influences.

Negative people don't make good companions so never associate with them. But indeed it's big problem if they are your family members. What to do? Well the best way to handle the situation is not to be affected with their negativity. Just show them the beauty and the benefits of being positive. Take their negative attitude as a challenge. Avoid being contaminated but rather keep the positivity and let your light shine. Show them the difference of being a positive person. It would be quite hard but if there's a will there's a way!

They are a source of bad aura. As much as possible, we stay away from them because negativity is infectious. However, if he or she is a member of the family, you just have to use your positive energy to counter that negativity. You need to have a stronger force to reverse the situation and make you the primary influence of such a positive change.

There are people around me who are there. And it is really difficult to deal with the situation sometimes. I would be trembling with anger sometimes, but I never really made any efforts to confront them coz I know that I'll look bad to the rest of the people around me.

You are right, it is a big challenge to deal with people who always have something negative to say. It is very draining, and if they are in your family it is really hard because, as you said, you have to be around them all the time. Me personally, I would be very nice about it, but I would not speak to the person all that much. If they started talking negatively to me, I would tell them, "Sorry, I have some work on the computer that I have to do." and I would go in my room and close and lock the door. I would come up with some kind of excuse to get away from them. I would not say anything at all back to them, not one word. If they said something nice and good, then I would respond and carry on a conversation. The second it turned negative, I would let them finish, then I would say very nicely, "I'll talk to you later, I've got to go balance my checkbook." ...Or take a bath, or wash my hair, or make a phone call, or write a letter... anything to get away from them.

For me the hardest part in dealing with negative people, is when you have to do it most of the time, and the fact that without you knowing it, you are sucking the negativity in and you get to share the same mind-frame eventually. That, and you can also get distracted from your own troubles that you have to deal with as well. So when I find myself dealing with negative people, I try to minimize my contact with them as much as possible. Life has a lot to offer not just failures and sad stories. Although we will never really appreciate the good without the bad, I would still rather associate myself with those who have nice things to say than tire myself just listening to negativity.

Its true that the ones closest to us have the power to hurt us the most. And with them being negative, it Can surely shake you Up. Don't let them affect you. You cannot change and control others, but you can definitely control yourself. Don't let these things bring you down because if it does affect you,it's not their loss but yours. Just focus on the bright side of things and not take the negatives into heart. Sometimes there will be things you won't like about your family, but then in the end, when something happens, no one will love you and be there for you as much as your family does. No one. :)

When it comes to negative people, you have to ignore them sometimes. By this I mean let what they say go in one ear and out the other. Some may sound negative because so much is going on in their life and they feel the need to get it out. Just because negativity comes out of their mouth does not mean we have to respond to it. It is also good sometimes to change a negative into a positive, show them a brighter side of the situation. When it comes to people trying to put someone else down, it is best not to fall into their trap. Let them be miserable by themselves. Tell them about all the good things that is going on in your life and positive goals you are working on and will one day accomplish.

We just cant change people who are negative. Just accept them as they are as injecting some positiveness will only be met with unnecessary arguements. Dance to their melody so as not to dent the relationship.

If I didn't have to deal with them, I wouldn't. If I did have to, I'd just prepare a list of positive replies, and get away as fast as possible.

Are they miserable or negative.Depression is a terrible thing to suffer from.In that case it is up the doctors for medication or some sort of therapy.If they are negative it drives me mad and irritates the life out of me.I have family members who are negative,always saying the countries broke.it is no use trying to find a job as there arn't any.ect.For goodness sake look on the bright side ,we are all alive,the birds are singing in the trees. My son has just found a job after a long time out of work.Some of the relatives rung him up to tell him he had no hope.What a thing to say to a vunerable young man.I have told them to clear off and not to bother if that is all the support they are going to give.I think some people are just jealous of each other if something goes right for you they hate it and feel the need to drag you down.{or try too}.They may have given up but don't expect you to give up so easily.For some people sitting moaning is all they are fit for.Tell them they are getting you down.It is hard to ignore especially if someone is close to you.So tell them about how wonderful life is and also point out they are being negative,maybe they just don't realise.

I have been finding myself dealing with that situation everyday. My family is full of negative minded people. I understand that everyone has something going on in their lives, including myself. But that doesn't mean to openly shoot down everyone else when they are a having a difficult time. Even I have my moments, but I try to keep them to myself. When I was living by myself, it was easier to deal with things because they were my own problems, and I had no one around me to hold me back. I found that I am an entirely different person when I am not around my family. I have always wanted to move because of the drain my family can put on a person emotionally, mentally, and psychologically. Ever since I had to move back into my parents house, I have been dealing with this negativity. And I don't like it. Unfortunately, I think the best way for me overcome this is to distance myself from my family for a little bit. I mean by moving not just out of the house, but put some distance between me and them, moving to another state. It sounds a bit drastic to do that, but I have been wanting to move to another state for some time because things here are so bad, but now, it has become more of I need to get away from my toxic family in order for me to thrive.

This is a very difficult situation but maybe it is best to avoid going into an argument with that person for it will only create more negativism.

Hi metatronik! I hope you still remember me even though it has been a really long while since I came back :) In regards to your discussion, I also have relatives that are so negative you'll feel like all your happy thoughts, good vibes and swinging spirit are flushed down the drain when I was with them. Seriously, there are those people that will never be content of whatever they have or gain so they prefer, either consciously or subconsciously, to talk to people in ways that will suck the life out of their victims. Since most of the responses around are about solutions and comforting us [yeah it's us, does my day become pitch black when I am near them].. I decided to list down the common types of this people and how to interact with them. To be honest, I haven't read all comments, I just skimmed them and I'm pretty sure there's fat chance we talk about the same things.. These are vibe vampires, past diggers and listen&tellers. I kind of know how to get by them, though I am not sure how or why they do that though. Here is the list: Some talk about how terrible their lives are and hunger for sympathy, but whatever comforting words you provide, they just force you to agree with them. Would be nice to say "Sucks to be you then"; but we aren't all that grumpy and straightforward. After trying your best to console, know that at least you gave your best shot and people like these just needs their alone time to think. Be happy that you're not like them because that will be depressing ;-) A much more difficult type of nuisance are those that wants you to feel down or dejected by pointing out all the wrong things you did or all the bad things that happened to you that are already forgotten by all who cares but them. These people bring up those bad memories just to make people sulk over what they should be laughing at like "Lol, that really happened?" Thing is, these horrible people recalls even the slightest detail like what terrabyte of a memory you have. Just continue being high-spirited because it will be them that will feel terrible, ridiculous and dejected if their vile plans don't work. Moreso, they live in the past while you are happy at present, that should be enough reason to be unaffected. The worse type (for me) are those people that pretends to be friendly and outgoing but is actually collecting every statement you say to use against you later. A typical example is when you had a fight with a friend so you tell it to this villain who portends to comfort you by listening to your qwelled emotions. Later, this villain will come to your friend and report all you've said at the peak of your anger even when both of you are ready to make up and apologise. This is just a typical sample, there are far worse situations that affects husband-wife relationship, work/career and friendship. To avoid this, is more or less IMPOSSIBLE. There are no sure sign that a person is like this but it's not good to be distrustful also. The only way to know if someone is like this villain is through experience. If someone told you of what he or she heard others say about you or have told others of what you've told, then there's high chance to never trust this fellow. True, people will say you can't always avoid talking to them nor can you make them enemies coz thait ain't the solution. The best way to tackle this menace is to always be wary of what you tell them. Never say anything that were aroused from anger because that only makes things worse. Hope all my effort is of help :) If there are others with such problems, I am happy to share these. I am sincerely sorry for the length of my response because right now, most of my stress are from the worse type of menaces. It's really hard to be careful of what you say because when they pass the message to others, it's distorted and more hurtful than what you actaully said. Better yet,be quiet with them..but as you can see, I'm inconveniently gregarious. ",)