A Negative Person No Longer in my Life

As I’ve written on numerous occasions, NEGATIVE people should not be in your life. They can be a drain on a positive force and the energy they emit can be harmful to the soul. Occasionally, one has little choice (i.e. family members) although usually the decision is in your hands.

Recently, the wife of a friend wrote a negative and mean-spirited comment about me in a public forum – words that were unkind and had a tinge of jealousy to them. I quickly responded to her with a positive yet clever line that put a spotlight on her disparaging comment. She had no worthwhile response after so she wrote “Whatever”.

Being a long time friend of her husband, one would think she would show more respect. If her comment had been sarcastic or funny, I would have embraced it.  It bothered me because of its mean and negative nature.  Publicly or privately, most people I know would never use her words to another.

After our initial introduction over a decade ago, it was:

A) Irritating in the way she frequently jumped into conversations to make her point, especially when she was on the outside of the conversation.

B) Not fun to be around her unpleasant nature.

C) Not surprising when others expressed similar feelings about her.

Interestingly, her husband is a great guy - admirable and one of the most genuine men I know.

Some years back, she also spoke to my mother disrespectfully - words and tone. Her husband made her apologize immediately as he knew her words were inappropriate and unkind. My respect for him grew even more when I heard about how he handled the incident.  Actions like hers should never be tolerated.

Since I carry no hate in my heart, her positive side must be brought to the surface. She’s been married a long time and they have kind and well adjusted children. I’ve rarely met children as pleasant. Collectively, they have created and nurtured a beautiful family.

I realize that I will encounter her in the future as my friendship with her husband will not be broken although my correspondence with her online or by phone will not emerge again. It’s a shame as she has displayed some friendly moments in our infrequent banter online.

I’ve rarely encountered a person with such negative energy. For all practical purposes, she is no longer in my life. Negativity (even small in size like this incident) wields a silent dagger and I won’t allow it to grab hold of me. 

I’m hopeful that she is humble enough to change or get help one day. She has a plethora of blessings and a life to be grateful for. If she’s not careful, her disposition could dampen or spoil the quality life that she has worked so diligently to create.

I wish her well.

Happy Gswede Sunday!

A beautiful fountain on the campus of Lund University, Sweden