{"id":5453,"date":"2017-07-24T01:00:54","date_gmt":"2017-07-24T05:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/?p=5453"},"modified":"2017-07-23T20:58:09","modified_gmt":"2017-07-24T00:58:09","slug":"free-four-types-toxic-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/2017\/07\/free-four-types-toxic-people.html","title":{"rendered":"Free Yourself from These Four Types of Toxic People"},"content":{"rendered":"

Those with whom we assemble, we soon resemble!<\/em><\/p>\n

This simple old saying hides a deep Truth that can enlighten and empower every aspect of our lives:<\/p>\n

Who we are \u2014 our very essence \u2014 is continually being transformed by the company we keep.<\/em><\/p>\n

Stated differently, 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\u2019t help but be dragged downward.<\/p>\n

This idea might sound a little simplistic at first, but its power soon becomes evident when we put it to use in the quest to realize our highest aspirations. The key lies in understanding that this principle is active on multiple levels<\/em> at once. For instance, when referring to “the company we keep,” we of course mean the people we spend time with every day \u2014 family, friends, co-workers, etc. However, on a deeper and more important level, \u201ccompany\u201d can also refer to the thoughts and feelings moving within us in any given moment.<\/p>\n

Have you ever been home alone in a fine mood, enjoying a meal perhaps, only to find yourself bored or depressed an hour later? That\u2019s a perfect example of the effect of hanging out with the wrong interior friends. When we are unconscious to the operation of our minds, any indigent thought or feeling that passes through us has the power to strike up a conversation and drag us into its dark circle of influence.<\/p>\n

But just as it\u2019s possible for us to keep bad interior company that pulls us down, so is it possible to keep positive inner company that works to raise us up in any moment we choose to remember it. 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.<\/p>\n

How encouraging! When life places us in a situation where a run-in with someone is inevitable \u2014 perhaps at work, with a family member, in a store, etc. \u2014 we can choose to keep the company of good and true interior friends who can help keep us from falling into negative states. And therein lies the key: when we remember that keeping the company of negative interior friends is a choice<\/em>, instead of an obligation, we are free to keep the company of compassion instead of anger, generosity instead of greed, and patience instead anxiety.<\/p>\n

Building on this idea, let\u2019s look at four common types of people that can be identified by the four prevailing dark states that inhabit them. By learning to recognize and understand the interior workings of these four types of \u201ctoxic people,\u201d we gain important insight into what is dark and limiting inside of us. In this way, we begin the process of liberation from everything inside of us that stands in the way of knowing the peace, happiness, success, and love that we long for.<\/p>\n

1. Muckrakers<\/strong>: These negative sprits 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.<\/p>\n

2. Mud Slingers<\/strong>: These malicious spirits pull themselves up by pulling others down. They love to gossip, criticize, judge, and denigrate anyone who ever had the misfortune of spending time with them. The only loyalty these denizens of the unconscious worlds have is to their own pain, which they feed by involving everyone they can in their mud slinging.<\/p>\n

3. Swamp Dwellers<\/strong>: There is a group of mired spirits 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.<\/p>\n

4. Life Haters<\/strong>: These dark spirits 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\u2019t spread their poison.<\/p>\n

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!<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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, but instead come awake and refuse to spend one more moment of your life lending your precious life force to their dark purposes.<\/p>\n

This powerful, positive action will change your life. As you begin to refuse to consort with what is dark, you\u2019ll find that you begin to attract with 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Those with whom we assemble, we soon resemble! This simple old saying hides a deep Truth that can enlighten and empower every aspect of our lives: Who we are \u2014 our very essence \u2014 is continually being transformed by the company we keep. Stated differently, when we keep the company of what is light and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":232,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[499,591],"tags":[2819,2820,1729,567,2823,2822,2077,35,2818,1343,2821],"class_list":["post-5453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-healthy-living","category-mental-health-2","tag-bad-company","tag-dark-energies","tag-dark-spirits","tag-dark-thoughts","tag-low-vibrations","tag-malicious-people","tag-negative-people","tag-relationship","tag-the-company-we-keep","tag-toxic-people","tag-true-friends"],"yoast_head":"\nFree Yourself from These Four Types of Toxic People - Letting Go with Guy Finley<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/2017\/07\/free-four-types-toxic-people.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Free Yourself from These Four Types of Toxic People - Letting Go with Guy Finley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Those with whom we assemble, we soon resemble! This simple old saying hides a deep Truth that can enlighten and empower every aspect of our lives: Who we are \u2014 our very essence \u2014 is continually being transformed by the company we keep. 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His ideas cut straight to the heart of our most important personal and social issues - relationships, success, addiction, stress, peace, happiness, freedom - and lead the way to a higher life. 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 over two million copies in 26 languages worldwide. His work is widely endorsed by doctors, business professionals, celebrities, and religious leaders of all denominations. Through Life of Learning Foundation, Guy has presented over 5,000 unique self-realization seminars to thousands of grateful students throughout North America and Europe over the past 20 years and has been a guest on over 700 television and radio shows, including national appearances on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, and NPR. The Foundation's popular Key Lesson e-mails featuring inspirational quotes by Guy are read each week by a hundred thousand subscribers in 142 countries. Guy speaks four times each week on inner-life principles at Life of Learning Foundation's home in Merlin, Oregon. These meetings are ongoing and open to the public. For more information about Life of Learning Foundation, Guy Finley, and their life-changing messages, visit guyfinley.org. \"Guy Finley is...one of the leading experts at the forefront of human potential.\" -Nightingale Conant \"Guy Finley has helped millions live fuller, more peaceable lives.\" -Barnes and Noble","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.guyfinley.org","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Guy-Finley-260924340633\/","https:\/\/x.com\/guy_finley"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/author\/gfinley"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/232"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5453"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5454,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5453\/revisions\/5454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}