Negative Energy is magnetic

A friend of mine, I say friend but he was so much more to me, more like mentor, told me once, after I explained a bothersome situation I was having with another musician, something that I will never forget and try to share with others. He said this “go towards the positive energy.”
Now the person we were discussing was not in any way a negative individual, like I am about to talk about, but these kernels of wisdom were not pearls to swine. I live by them to this day and have heard similar sentiments used in talking with people I consider successful.
You have to X negative people out of your life if you are going to get anywhere making anything work. Negative energy is not infectious it is a black hole that sucks effort and anything allowed near it right into non-existence. The best move is to get as far away from it as possible.
What do I mean?
Let me give you an example and how far I incorporate this practice in my life.
I got a new twitter follower, “whoopie big deal” you might say. I then, out of curiosity, read some of their older twits. They teetered along these lines “my life sucks. You suck. This whole existence is just a waste of time. But I am a BadA##.” That kind of bravado which seethes with “I have no confidence but I act this way to shield the world from the fact that I am scared.”
I blocked them immediately.
Hemingway once called a skill all writers must have as a “built in s&^% detector” and Pappa was right on that one. Except he was referring to his own work and words which crept into his work that was not authentic and rang dull or not fitting. This can be analogous to your interaction with people. Keep your village strong and those around you positive.
Some sure signs are people who are constantly complaining, or constantly telling you why something will not work, or why too much work is required to do anything.
Stay far away. Be polite but run from them like they were a leper.
As a musician or anyone trying to accomplish anything you have your work cut out for you. It is so much easier to sit in a recliner and tell the world how bad a quarterback is doing than it is to actually, suit up, get your butt on a field and do the real work of running an offense.
These types of people will pull you down with them because misery loves to not be alone.
Do not let them into your life. If they are not with you they are unknowingly, or possibly knowingly, against you. They might not know any better but with the work and struggle you are about to engage in or already are engaging in they have no place but far away in the grandstands or at home on the recliner bitching because life was not delivered to them like a pizza.
Your path is different and Dominoes is not going to get you there.
Keep your circle strong!
Elam McKnight
https://www.bigblackhand.com
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https://www.twitter.com/elammcknight

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