Twilight Has Nothing on These People!

Energy Vampires!

Eek!

I am SO over them...

What is an Energy Vampire?

Energy vampires drain your spirit by depleting your positive energy, just like real vampires slurp blood. Energy vampires – such as drama queens – leave you feeling drained and listless, but these eleven ways to protect yourself from negative influences will help! After a visit with an energy vampire, you barely have enough energy to watch tv – much pursue your goals or take care of your responsibilities. The energy vampire’s negative influences have consumed your positive energy.

How Energy Vampires Drain Your Spirit

Energy vampires drain positive energy in many ways, such as:

• Intruding on your life, ignoring boundaries and privacy (energy vampires don’t think of you).

• Making big deals out of nothing. Energy vampires are often called “drama queens” because they can easily turn a broken nail into a Shakespearean tragedy. Negative energy spreads from everyday events.

• Complaining constantly about their partners, jobs, children, bad luck, and illnesses. Energy vampires like to vent.

• Criticizing your hair, appearance, job, children, partner, friends, and pets (energy vampires aren’t positive).

• Not taking “no” for an answer. Energy vampires don’t consider your needs.

• Being unrelentingly negative. Their negative energy is relentless, and energy vampires drain your positive energy by encouraging you to be negative, too.

• Blaming everyone else for their problems (energy vampires don’t take responsibility).

How Energy Vampires Drain Energy & Why You Feel Depressed After a Conversation

You know you’ve spent time with an energy vampire when you leave feeling depressed, exhausted, or sad. Energy vampires drain your positive energy for their own use. Energy vampires leave you feeling empty and sluggish – and to compensate or build positive energy you may eat, drink, shop, or sleep for hours afterwards.

Energy Vampires Need Your Positive Energy

Energy vampires come in all shapes and sizes: loud and aggressive, soft-spoken and shy, charming and seductive, pushy and overbearing. Energy vampires have energy leaks that they need to fill. It’s up to you to stop energy vampires from draining your positive energy. Often energy vampires don’t even realize they’re bleeding you dry. Energy vampires have often suffered some sort of crisis, whether in childhood or adulthood, and they’re compensating to get rid of their negative energy. Energy vampires may not be deliberately, maliciously stealing your positive energy — but they’re definitely not contributing to a fantastic relationship.

Energy Vampires may drain positive energy, but you can learn to stop them!

11 Ways to Protect Yourself From Energy Vampires:

1. Limit the amount of time you spend with energy vampires. The less time you’re together, the less positive energy you’ll lose.

2. Learn effective ways to end conversations with energy vampires (eg, I only have ten minutes to talk.”)

3. Stay calm and detached from energy vampires. Don’t let their negative energy consume you.

4. Be honest about your needs (eg, “I need this time to work/read/relax/exercise.”)

5. Refrain from attempting to rescue them or fix an energy vampire’s problems.

6. Practice walking away from energy vampires.; the more you do it, the easier it gets.

7. Limit eye contact with energy vampires.

8. Avoid being in close spaces with energy vampires (elevators, cars, etc). Negative energy is catching.

9. Define and guard your personal space from energy vampires.

10. Tell energy vampires you feel uncomfortable discussing particular people or circumstances.

11. Stand up for yourself and your boundaries! Your time, positive energy, and resources are precious and should be closely guarded from energy vampires.

Do you have a lot of these energy vampires in your life?  I can name 3 without taking a breath.  Thankfully I DO minimize my time with or around them...and I REALLY should delete them from my Facebook but havent.  So negative all the time, argumentative and just depressing to be around...

Read more at Suite101:  How Energy Vampires Drain Your Spirit: 11 Ways to Protect Yourself
Or this article from CNN and Oprah.com