Mauie Flores

As a friend, I've always been a sponge. I lend a listening ear to friends who need someone to talk to. Oftentimes, I let them talk and I just keep my mouth shut. I believe that it's therapeutic to just let it all out. But you know, I'm just human and I also need to veer away from all the rants especially when I begin to feel that a friend is slowly developing into an emotional vampire.



What is an emotional vampire? An emotional vampire is one who can suck all the positive energy out of you. He/She can be a friend who constantly rants about everything that is happening in his/her life even when you know that it's not that bad. Or he/she can be someone who always puts you down and never tells you that you're doing good. Sadly, they can also be people close to you who always find a way to ask you for money and make you feel guilty when you can't help them financially.

I've been there and I've cried a million times from bearing all their negative vibes. But now I know better and I now know what to do. Here are some things I did to deal with these emotional vampires:

• I now know when not to listen. I can manage a 5-minute ranting over the phone but I can now drop it if it's going to be longer than that. I also keep a lot of excuses under my sleeve should I need one to stop listening to a ranting friend.
• I surround myself with happy songs, happy thoughts and happy people. When I feel emotionally drained, I turn up the volume and listen to Black Eyed Peas and Lady Gaga, seriously! I dance and think of happy thoughts. I call my sister and we just talk about nonsense on the phone and just laugh the afternoon away.
• I am content with what I am and what I have. I can truly say that I am so thankful to the Lord for giving me this kind of life. I remind myself that I am blessed and there's no need to feel sad about anything.
• I kept them busy, haha! One emotional vampire appeared to have nothing to do but to drain the happiness out of me so I asked her to just write an assignment for me to keep her busy. She needed money and she wanted me to lend her some. I was at my wits end with my deadlines and I don't need more stress. Good thing she accepted my job offer. I think she took so much time reading animal cuts reviews for the health article I asked her to write that she didn't have time to rant about her life anymore. Both our problems were solved, how genius of me!

I hope you found this post useful. Do not let yourself fall into an emotional vampire's trap. A healthy person is a happy person and vice versa. Stay away from the negative vibe.

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