4 Types Of Soul-Sucking People Whose Negativity Will Destroy You
You have the choice to cut them off.
Jacob Lund } Canva Are you surrounded by toxic people who fill your life with constant negativity? "Those with whom we assemble, we soon resemble!" This simple old saying hides the deep truth that can enlighten and empower every aspect of our lives: who we are — our very essence — is continually being transformed by the company we keep. When we keep the company of what is light and bright, our lives get lighter and brighter.
And when we keep the company of what is dark and discouraging, our lives can't help but be dragged downward. For instance, when referring to "the company we keep," we mean the people we spend time with every day — family, friends, and even co-workers. However, on a deeper and more important level, "company" can also refer to the thoughts and feelings moving within us at any given moment.
This not only means that we can choose not to get dragged down when we are alone, but it also means that we can choose not to get dragged down when we find ourselves in the presence of negative people as well. How encouraging! When life places us in a situation where a run-in with someone is inevitable — perhaps at work, with a family member, or in a store — we can choose to keep the company of good and true interior friends who can help keep us from falling into negative states.
RELATED: 12 Sneaky Ways Toxic People Manipulate You — And How To Avoid It
And therein lies the key: when we remember that keeping the company of negative interior friends is a choice instead of an obligation, we are free to keep the company of compassion instead of anger, generosity instead of greed, and patience instead of anxiety. Building on this idea, toxic and manipulative people can be identified by the four prevailing negative and dark states that inhabit them. By learning to recognize and understand the interior workings of toxic friends and their toxic friendships, we gain important insight into what is dark and limiting inside of us.
Here are the 4 types of soul-sucking people whose negativity will destroy you:
1. Muckrakers
These toxic people live to drag up old painful events and then revel in the anger, resentment, or bitterness that such unhappy memories hold. Stay away from any spirit — in others or in yourself — that wants you to dive into some suffering over what happened in any past moment.
2. Mudslingers
These malicious people pull themselves up by pulling others down. They love to gossip, criticize, judge, and denigrate anyone who has the misfortune of spending time with them. The only loyalty these denizens of the unconscious worlds have is to their pain, which they feed by involving everyone they can in their mudslinging.
3. Swamp dwellers
There is a group of mired people that thrive on low vibrations, and that require a human instrument to play out their endless dark dissonance. Easily recognizable, these misfortunate forces serve up dreadful mental pictures of past and future events for the sake of the unnatural reactions they produce. Ignore these corrupted spirits and they must take their evil speculations elsewhere.
4. Life-haters
These toxic people perpetuate their hold on the human soul by resisting the beautiful gifts of life. They trick us into commiserating with their complaining, cruelty, and irritation because, without our unconscious consent, these chronically conflicted spirits can't spread their poison. Just as harmful viruses require a human host to exist and thrive, so do negative states require the unconscious consent of human beings to carry out their dark mission.
For what power does a negative thought have other than the power to convince a person to do its bidding? The answer is none! When we begin to consciously withdraw our consent to associate with toxic people and the toxic thoughts and feelings inside of us, we leave them with no place to thrive. Our real inner work is to sweep clean the places in ourselves where such creatures reside which in turn brightens our life and the lives of everyone around us.
If you're seeing signs of a toxic person in your life, it's time to take action. Begin today, this very moment, to withdraw any permission you have unknowingly granted these dark spirits to be in your life. Do not judge yourself, or those around you in whom these misdirected forces are active. Instead, come awake and refuse to spend one more moment of your life lending your precious life force to their dark purposes.
This powerful, positive action will change your life. As you begin to refuse to consort with what is dark, you'll find that you begin to attract what is light, bright, and cheerful. Your relationships will deepen, your professional life will take on new vigor and freshness, and the whole of your days will begin to resemble the radiant Life that you have deliberately chosen as your conscious companion.
Guy Finley is the Founder and Director of Life of Learning Foundation, a nonprofit Center for Spiritual Discovery. He is the acclaimed author of The Secret of Letting Go and more than 45 other books and audio programs that have sold millions of copies in 30 languages worldwide.