How Negativity Wrecks Relationships (and how to turn it around)
Live with someone negative? Or maybe it’s — er — you? Here are the signs — and what to do with them.
“I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.” — Mahatma Gandhi
A man wanted to work on his negative thinking — mostly because it was affecting his relationship.
“My wife says I always see the gloomy side of things. It’s true. I always try to work out where things could go wrong. I like to plan for them.”
He said he’d always been this way. But his wife of eight years had had enough. “I’m not much fun to live with. I can see that — but I don’t know how to turn it around.”
Negative thinking refers to a pattern of thinking negatively about (1) yourself, (2) other people and (3) the world generally.
We all have negative thoughts, but chronic negativity can affect your everyday function, quality of life and mental health.
Not surprisingly, it snakes into relationships, which can be frustrating and, potentially, destructive because it erodes your partner’s quality of life, which is unfair — and even a little mean.
