Everything is energy. Your actions, your feelings, your thoughts. Every experience we have impacts our energy in some manner whether its positive, negative, or neutral. Positive energy is of course beneficial; it gives us a sense of purpose, accomplishment, momentum, belonging, rejuvenation, etc. Negative energy on the other hand can give us a feeling of depression, doubt, uncertainty, anxiety, etc. The good news is that we have tools we can use to limit the effects of events that emit negative energy. One such tool is the ability to ignore that which does not matter. This doesn’t always come easy to some people but it can be learned. This is the ability to simply not care or give attention to things that bring you negative energy. One of the most common examples of this in current times is social media. Oftentimes a person will follow people on social media just because they are “friends” or acquaintances in real life. However, once this “friend” makes a post on social media it triggers negative emotions and energy. Perhaps the post is not consistent with how the person actually thinks or behaves, or its something that didn’t need to be said, or its clearly an attention seeking post, or is obviously just a highlight reel photo that is not consistent with reality. Whatever the case, this post is viewed and immediately triggers negative emotions. What can be done?
Unfollow such people. It seems so simple yet so many people can’t do it. So many people are so curious as to what’s going on in other peoples’ lives that they can’t simply “unfollow” or ignore. They are subconsciously aware that such post cause them negative emotions, but fail to take action to stop the negative energy. One might argue that it’s not a big deal, that its just temporary negative emotions, but the fact is day after day or instance after instance they are subjecting themselves to a periodic dose of negative emotions. It takes energy to be or upset with things, even if its just a little bit. However, that which angers you controls you. If something is making you angry it has power over you in that it can influence your thought process and emotions. The obvious solution is to stop following, stop allowing negative energy into your life.
A similar situation can occur with people that you know, people that you grew up with. Sometimes people we knew well and loved as kids can change. You get to realizing that after every conversation or interaction with them you feel drained, taken advantage of, or just generally unfulfilled. Whether it’s by arguing against you, asking for favors, not seeing your point of view, or not having fulfilling conversation; these people need to get cut out from your life. They steal your positive energy and replace it with negative energy. Understandably it can be a hard thing to do if you’ve known these people your whole life and call them friends. It takes a bit of selfishness as well to take action that will improve your positive energy. Regardless, it must be done if you want to live with the highest amount of positive energy possible. You don’t have to just stop talking to them in cold turkey fashion. You can just taper the amount of contact and conversations slowly over time.
If you’re being subjected to negative energy interactions on a regular basis, whether personal or digital, the time to take action is now. Cut that negative energy from your life and start living your best life. Further, take time to consider the energy you are giving to others. Make sure you are building others up and not tearing them down. Keep the positive energy flowing because positive energy is contagious and it builds momentum. It’s important to make sure you are helping other to live their best life as well.