Is Your Own Negativity Affecting Your Friendships?
You’ll find lots of information online about how to do away with negative friendships. But what if the source of negativity is coming from you?
It isn’t always easy to recognize when you’re being negative. Some people have no idea how their negativity is impacting others.
Today GenuLines looks at how your negativity could be affecting your friendships. We’ll also look at what you can do about it.
Are You a Negative Friend?
It isn’t always easy to see the negativity in ourselves. You can be unaware that you’re projecting negativity onto others.
So, how can you identify if you’re a negative friend?
Here’s a few signs to look out for:
You find it hard to maintain friendships.
You make plans knowing you’ll cancel them.
You don’t check in first or see how your friends are doing
Most conversations are about you
They don’t come to you for advice or support
Now, some of these signs may not be down to your own negativity. For example, you may not check in first with your friends.
This is because it always used to be you initiating contact. That alone would not make you a negative friend.
Many people find it hard to keep friends. Yet, if you generally find it easy to make friends and not keep them, there may be a problem.
Assess your friendships, including those from the past.
Is there a pattern, and could it be due to your negativity? Life gets busy and it isn’t always easy to keep in touch with friends.
But if you never contact anyone first, this is a sign you may be a negative friend.
Remember, friendships are a two-way street. Your friends need to know you care about them too.
The Impact Negativity Has on Friendships
So, why is it important to be a more positive friend? For starters, negativity can kill friendships.
Nobody wants to be around someone who always spouts negativity.
It brings down their mood, leading them to feel more depressed or drained after being around you. Another way negativity impacts friendships, is that it’s bad for the heart.
Studies have shown that negative friendships affect heart health. So, you could be impacting your friends’ health issues with your constant negativity.
These are only some of the problems you can cause if you are a negative friend.
When you bring negativity into your friendships, you won’t have strong relationships. Healthy friendships are important for our health and wellbeing.
So, if you do identify as a negative friend, now’s the time to start working on adjusting your mindset. It might not be easy; but, doing this will help you have much healthier and happier friendships.
JohnK 7-29-2024
www.chiforyourself.com
Overheard: “Positive anything is better than negative nothing.”
– Elbert Hubbard