How to be at Peace Around Negative People

Posted on March 7th, 2010 by Soniei

Last December I wrote a blog post called Don’t Lose Your Mind Because of a Bad eBay Buyer. I used to have a talent for soaking up angry people’s energy and turning it into anxiety. Of course, I wouldn’t show these feelings to anyone. I would keep all my feelings pent up inside.

Yeah…I know…such a healthy way of being.

The past couple of months, I’ve really been working on not losing my mind over difficult people’s anger management issues. When I get negative feedback, I’ll repeat to myself, “Their anger has nothing to do with me”. This definitely helped me deal with angry people, but I have to admit that it didn’t fix my problem 100%. I still needed something more.

I’m glad to report that last night I found something that helped me in dealing with difficult people. I listened to the audio clip on Byron Katie’s blog called I Can’t Stand My Best Friend and it really gave me tips in dealing with angry, negative, difficult people.

If you’re not familiar with Byron Katie’s “The Work”, you can go visit thework.com for more information. It might help you to understand the audio clip more fully. You can also download the Judge-Your-Neighbor Worksheet.

I really hope this will help you out too.

8 Responses to “How to be at Peace Around Negative People”

Kris Horrocks • April 21st, 2010 at 3:48 pm

Thanks for the pointer to TheWork. Looks like a nice body of work to dive into. While I found the entire book transformative, the second Agreement in The Four Agreements, “Don’t Take Anything Personally”, speaks directly to recognizing other people’s negitivity as a reflection of their own personal nightmare and not a reflection of you or your dream.

Soniei • April 22nd, 2010 at 3:54 pm

@Kris Horrocks – TheWork of Byron Katie has helped me so much throughout the years, there’s almost no need for any more self-help books, in my opinion.

momo • October 19th, 2010 at 12:48 am

i am japanese and your paintings made me feel nostalgic.
they are (along with the japanese characters) truly beautiful.
thank you.
keep up the great work.

ps. i listened to i can’t stand my best friend. thanks for the good one.

Soniei • October 20th, 2010 at 4:01 pm

@momo Thank you so much. I really appreciate your kind words! And, yes, I agree that ‘I Can’t Stand My Best Friend’ is a good one to listen to. I’ve listened to it many times, and it helps me out tremendously. I just LOVE Byron Katie.

Barbara • February 10th, 2011 at 1:29 pm

I love your work and thanks for writing about not taking it personal when others are angry i needed to hear that today.

Soniei • February 11th, 2011 at 4:05 pm

@barbara Thank you so much, Barbara!

I’m happy to share whatever works for me and dealing with negativity. I need Byron Katie’s words of wisdom A LOT because I’m a sensitive person. I care about people A LOT, which sometimes isn’t so good for me.

Steph • May 16th, 2011 at 5:15 pm

I Love your artwork! The vines and flowers and butterfly/dragonfly paintings are very peaceful and ….. well i dont know, but i love them I have actually used your artwork style to influence some of the art i have been creating myself on projects i have had to do. Thank you

Soniei • May 17th, 2011 at 4:08 pm

@Steph That’s great! I love when I can inspire other artists!!! I would love to see your work. Go ahead and share a link in the comments, if you like.

Contemporary Art Blog by Soniei