JORGE RODRIGUES SIMAO

We all have a negative acquaintance or two who seems to know everything there is to know about what is wrong with this world. These pessimistic individuals, to be sure, can be just a little unpleasant and difficult to be around. If you are like me, after a few moments with them, you begin to squirm in your seat, trying to determine your next course of action. Unfortunately, there are no laws under which you can have negative people charged for interfering with your life.

As a highly evolved human being, you will want to avoid being around pessimistic people, even if the alternative is being alone.

It is important that you spot negative people as soon as possible so that you can take appropriate action.

Negative people will try to undermine your optimism in any way they can.

They will bore you with bad tidings and gossip, continuing to tell you the negative things in their lives when you already know more about them than you care to know.

If you hang around them for too long, they will influence you to start seeing nothing but a grim and gloomy world.

Pessimistic individuals think the whole world is against them.

For some strange reason they want everyone else to have the same experience.

They are critics who know everything - at least they think they do.

Pessimistic people court others who will support them in their contention that the world is a lousy place.

And once they know they can, they will stick to them like Krazy Glue® to hair.

Some of these people spend their entire lives making others miserable.

They seem to be pleased with their efforts for no justifiable reason.

Negative people are particularly noted for their lack of humor.

They have the delightful view that life is a rip-off and that nothing is so bad that it can't get worse.

One of the most endearing traits of pessimistic people is their willingness to do anything possible to bring optimistic people down to their depressing level.

Indeed, misery doesn't only love company - it demands it!

These people have an endless supply of hard-luck stories capable of bringing down even the most enthusiastic and energetic people.

You may think that you can convince negative people to be remarkably positive like you.

Reality says you probably won't win many converts irrespective of how much effort you put into this experiment.

Nothing irks negative and unsuccessful people more than individuals who are positive and successful.

Accept that same people prefer to look at the world from a perversely distorted point of view.

Perhaps you are a Good Samaritan who likes to take on one or two neurotics as a personal project.

I must warn you about the futility of this venture.

Unless you can get these people to have personality transplants, all your efforts will be in vain.

Even if their happiness and survival are at stake, negative individuals won't change.

Although they have the ability to change, they go on defending their points of view at all costs while looking for new converts.

As a matter of course, negative people will intrude into your life every chance they get.

You have to be able to stop them before they get started.

Some will claim you owe them same of your time; others will claim you owe them favors; and still others will even claim you owe them a living.

In short, it is futile to spend your time trying to make an unhappy person happy.

Near as I can tell, you'd have to be a magician to pull it off.

There is only one way to effectively deal with negative people - eliminate them from your life.

Try to direct them in one direction while you head off in the opposite one.

If you somehow find yourself in the company of someone who regularly drains your energy, it's wise not to stick around.

Look for any means of rapid escape. In other words, don't walk away from negative people - run!

To be fair, negative people are just ignorant and don't know any better.

What's more, they are not complete failures - we get to use them as great examples of the type of people we don't want to become ourselves.