“The attitudes of your friends are like the buttons on an elevator. They’ll either take you up or they’ll take you down.” Alexander Lockhart

Why associate yourself with negative people?   It is a very simple question with a huge impact.

Have you ever been so extremely happy one minute and then your friend comes by and you can feel your mood drop?  This may not happen right away but I am sure you have noticed someone around you that causes this to happen.  What do you do about it?  Most people stay around and never say anything about it and let it happen time and time again.

Don’t get me wrong.  We all have our bad days where we bring other people to the bottom of the barrel with us and that is one reason we have close relationships – so we have someone who will take that ride with us when needed.  But those around you who are doing it day after day are impacting your life in ways you may not even think about until you sit back and look.

So, take a moment and open your contact list on your phone or in your e-mail.  Who all are constantly negative?  Think about this hard.  Who always drags you down, dampens your attitude for the remainder of the day (or sometimes days), and then effects everyone around you as you are taking their negativity around?  It may be time to delete them.

“We all need a daily check up from the neck up to avoid stinkin’ thinkin’ which ultimately leads to hardening of the attitudes. ”  Zig Ziglar

Side note:  Want to learn how to deal better with a negative co-worker?  Check out Dealing With Toxic People on the A Daring Adventure blog.