Protect your neck...

....it's a vampire! Energy vampire that is! I interviewed Dr. Judith Orloff, a few years ago, for a magazine article that I was writing. Unfortunately, I don't remember what the article was about, but I remember the lesson I learned about energy vampires.

Just as the name suggests, an energy vampire, is anything or anyone who leaves you feeling like a casualty of emotional warfare. They literally suck the life out of you. It's the conversations you have with someone that make you feel as though you've been slimed with a substance that even a nice hot shower wouldn't wash off? If you're feeling drained, tired, or unmotivated after an encounter with someone, you might have fallen victim to a sob sister, drama queen, constant talker or criticizer. If you don't remember encountering such a person, have had a good night's sleep, have no health issues and you still feel run down, you my friend may be the reason. Your own negative thoughts might be sucking your energy.



So what do you do:

1. Awareness is always the first step. Recognize the situation for what it is.
2.Easier said than done, but if it's overwhelmingly negative, you must change your thought pattern.
3. Don't be a hostage to a conversation that's moving at a drop-dead speed off a cliff, into a brick wall, or towards oncoming traffic. Get the picture!
4. Protect yourself. Remember your garlic or wooden stake. If it's a family member that you can't avoid, you still have the power to limit interaction with this personality.