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5/3/12

High Wattage People

Who create negative low energy...

Some people are difficult to be around and we all have them somewhere in our lives whether they're family, friends, co-workers, a neighbor or the friend of a friend. It's not necessarily the needy people or the ones who go from one drama to another that are the hardest for me to take. It's the negative, high-strung, wire tight person who dissipates all the positive energy out of a room merely by their presence. They remind me of being just under low hanging high power lines that you can hear the singing of the static electricity that emanates from them. The swing of the wires, zinging in the air and hair standing on end is unnerving.


They are vampires of calm and emotion, positive thinking and good spirit who suck the atmosphere around them dry in a void. Worse, sometimes they can't be avoided and the best you can do is be prepared with healthy defenses mechanisms and placing an invisible shield of self protection around you. Somehow at times they manage to break the barrier and leave you exhausted. In my case I work with someone like that and most of the time I can roll my eyes and turn my back but there are days when she hits every nerve. I won't pretend that sometimes in those moments I want her to roll on the floor in twisted agony and writhe as if she was a snake run over by a truck. Usually my better nature regains control and I turn my attention to something else but occasionally she gets a tongue lashing that I rarely succumb to but people who know me are well aware of. It doesn't happen often and only strikes those that generally get on everyone else's nerves also. My co-workers I think secretly enjoy it and my manager knows that I won't apologize to her but that I do feel guilty about losing control and will apologize to him since it puts him in a difficult spot.

These people get the better of us I think mostly because it is human nature to be able to take only so much negative energy. Some people actually like being around this personality type for several reasons but usually to amplify their own anger and confusion. Those two inner fears, anger and confusion are what I believe drive these malignant spirited people and I still have difficulty understanding why they haven't figured themselves out yet and redirected their lives. Nonetheless they haven't and regretfully the rest of us somehow must tolerate it. As agitating as it can be to be around them the best way I have figured out to accept they exist is know that sooner or later they will implode on their own. The bottom line is I can do nothing about that and all any of us can do is the best we can to manage ourselves recognizing we may sometimes fail at it. Then we need to forgive ourselves for our own human nature and move on.