The Importance of Surrounding Yourself with Great People
So I realize that I haven’t always let the best people into my life. I’ve talked about this with a few friends recently and with my sister. I’ve actually renewed a few friendships that had been DOA for awhile. (Thanks God for re-uniting because these folks rock my socks).
I’m really (finally) getting exactly HOW important (!) it is to only let amazing people in my life and to foster those relationships. I think in the past I’ve definitely started friendships, and even some relationships, with people who I knew from the get-go were superficial, self-absorbed or overly critical or judgmental (which inevitably brings out those qualities more in myself and/or leaves me hurt or disappointed). There’s always been a part of me that thought, ‘the more the merrier’. Why not befriend these people? I now get the why. Because they bring me down.
In a spiritual sense, they are operating at a lower vibration than I am. I think Yossi put it well when he said that your vibration averages out. So if someone is a lower vibration than you, you will bring them up some and they will bring you down some to meet in the middle. Talk about psychic vampires. And yes, I know I now have to explain what I mean by that. James Van Praagh is a medium who wrote the book “Ghosts Among Us”. It’s a fascinating book about ghosts that exist among us in the human realm as well as in other dimensions. In it he says the following:
“If there are energy healers, it stands to reason that there are also energy drainers. Energy suckers are everywhere, and I am not just talking about ghosts. Is there someone in your life who is constantly depressed, angry about the world, jealous, always in a bad mood, pessimistic, doubtful, power-hungry, mistrustful or manipulating? I refer to these individuals as ‘psychic vampires’ because they unconsciously drain your life force with their unrelentingly negative attitudes. Most of them are not even aware that their energy extends beyond them and hurts others along their path. They can leave you exhausted, depressed, and debilitated. Psychic vampires usually are self-involved individuals who feel self-important. Their bad attitudes actually slow down their vibratory rates and attract unevolved ghostly energies.”
In the past, especially as a child and teenager, something frequently attracted me to these people who seemed to constantly have an air of self-importance. I wanted them to like me. Perhaps I felt it would mean I was important too. Or maybe I just wanted to have that same sense of what appeared to me to be confidence. Something I considered myself to lack. Though their confidence likely stemmed more from putting others down than from belief in themselves and their inherent wholeness. Anyway, this inevitably never ended well and those relationships wouldn’t last. As a child I always just wanted to be loved and to love others and it pained me to try to fit in with people who could often be so cruel. I would try to make myself smaller to fit in with their idea of how people should be and then proceed to feel rejected or like there was something wrong with me when it didn’t work out. It was like trying to take on a persona that was certainly not my own and never felt right. I really think you could physically see and sense my discomfort. Over the years this turned into a solid shield around my heart that has taken a long time to melt away (and is still in process).
I can see now that I was just looking to find validation outside of me for what I couldn’t see or own in myself – that I am complete, whole and perfect as I am. I know that part of owning this involves surrounding myself only with people who will relate to me this way – people who I can gain strength and inspiration from and for whom I can reciprocate this act of generosity.
So I’m making a new commitment to only build and maintain relationships with wonderful people from now on and am looking forward to the difference that will undoubtedly make in my life.
Tags: Coaching, Friends, Ghosts Among Us, James Van Praagh, psychic vampires, Relationships, Self Development, Self Help, Transformation