As my friend Zig Ziglar was fond of saying ” Some people look for a fault like there’s a large reward for it”, or as my Grandfather used to say ” some people can find a black cloud in a silver lining”. there are many people who spend life totally immersed in the negative.
Reflecting on 50+ years in business, sales, and management, some of these people are so toxic they can suck the positive out of almost any situation. In meetings, they have a problem for every solution. Surprisingly, they often show up in management positions, most of the time through their length of service, luck, nepotism, or patronage.
The worst of these people, or buzz killers as I like to call them, live in a constant state of negativity, denial, and excuses. I remember vividly being at an executive luncheon one day where one woman was remarking upon the good fortune of a relative who had just won a very large amount of money from playing the lottery. Sure enough there was one of these buzz killers at the table who, without hesitating for a second, remarked, ” Yes, but just think of all the taxes they’ll have to pay on that money”. To be fair to the buzz killer, it wasn’t malice on their part, but just the way this person’s mind had been taught to think over years of negative thinking and unhappiness.
We all deal with “buzz killers” everyday. Whether it’s at work, church, home, family, or organizations we belong to, everyone deals with these negative people. We have turned society into looking for excuses or people to blame rather than looking for solutions. Business owners will tell you they can’t find employees because they want a “position” not a job. It was announced yesterday that, for the first time in decades, there are more jobs available than unemployed people to fill them.
But people now blame “the economy” , Trump, democrats, republicans, bad breaks, “people out to get them”, their mothers and fathers, their enviorment, etc.etc. for their inability to be sucessful. We give out “participation trophies” to yougsters, but unfortunately LIFE doesn’t when they get older.
How to deal with the negative “buzz killers” ? there are two ways to do just that. The first is, if possible, avoid them like the black plague. If one can’t, then call them out on their negativity, “if you don’t like this idea, what is your’s?”, you’ll find they seldom have one.
Looking for the positive and not making excuses, and taking responsibility for your actions and decisions is the number one key not only to success, but to happiness in life.
As Zig Ziglar always said, “a positive attitude won’t get you get everything in life, but it will get you a 100% more than a negative one”.
Stay positive and happy my friends, take time to live, love, laugh, and enjoy the ride, if you don’t think the creator of the universe has a sense of humor about it all, take a long look at the United States Congress and then tell me he doesn’t.
I wish the best to all of you, work hard, but play and rest well also…
Happy Trails……
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