Positive and Negative

The most positive person in my life would be my husband. He stands behind me 100%. Most negative believe it our not would have been my mom.. I know she only wanted the best for me but sometimes she had a hard way of saying it!

Why Diane, Good Morning to you on this early sunday morning! What a joy to see that I am not the only one up early on sundays. I thought I was all alone here in Gatherland!
That is neat about your husband being the most positive person in your life but am saddened that the most negative was your Mom. Its unfortunate that sometimes the people who love us most or who we love most sometimes end up hurting each other. Have a great day!

Thanks for your comments!

most negative...my ex husband
most positive...my friend Kathy

My family has been negative at times,my husband has been a positive force in my life also I have had a few real friends that have been major inlightments to me.Good topic,thanks.

i think everybody i know has brought something positive into my life.

so many, both ways... a few both at the same time.

This is an easy one even for me. My family has always been positive and loving. Most of all my husband gives me unconditional love even when I'm quite unloveable.
The negative people in my life are my birth family. They are always fighting and negative, not all but most. I moved 1500 miles away from them, so my own family would not be exposed to the negativity. Wow, that's a lot of soul searching for 7:35 am. Let's feature this article, so others can soul search. I'm going back to bed.

Corina - thanks for commenting!

Kim - You're lucky that you have such a positive husband and friends but who is the negative??

Thanks for your comments!

Heidi - I am happy for you that you have been so fortunate as to find so many positive people in your life. Have you had any negative ones that have impacted your life?

Thanks for your comments!

Lloyd - Thanks for your comments and thanks for stopping by!

Carol - You and I have in common that we both have wonderful and loving husbands through thick and thin. I am sorry that your family is negative but guess what? Part of mine is too and actually refuse to speak to some of them because of this. I wish it didn't have to be this way, I love them, but can't live with the misery of constant raving about this or that. It wears me out. I don't blame you for moving away to save your own family from being subjected to the negativity. No one would blame you for this.

Thanks for your comments and would love to be featured!!

Positive impact: Two of my undergrad professors who I remain close with to this day. They remain a constant source of inspiration for me. :)

Negative impact: Can't go into that, but it made a mess of my job for a while there!

My parents started me on the positive route, then I encountered a wonderful 5th grade teacher who loved learning and teaching and playing baseball! After that college teachers, friends and my future husband. My oh my the list goes on. Several of my daughters teachers, friends, an amazing priest who has just been transferred and all of my dear, dear writing friends.

Leah - I'm happy that you had two professors and not just one that were and are a source of inspiration for you. And sometimes the negatives can really mess a person up for a long time unfortunately.

Thanks for your comments!

Trish - You and I were lucky to get started in life with positive role models in our parents! I believe that one finds the positive in almost everyone one meets but there are the ones that leave that indelible mark that you never forget throughout our lives. What? You've never had a negative personal encounter? Or no one negative has ever impacted on your life? You are lucky indeed.

Thanks for your comments!

Positive was my aunt Helen all throught my life until she passed away 6yr ago. Also a lady in AA who became my sponser Maggie, she is gone also.Negative was my first husband. But I mana to get away from him after 5 years.

Well my family and friends.
Late Great Sally Peeblebop
Say Hey kid Willie Mays
Bobby Thompson
Toulouse LaTrec
Albert Einstein
Carl Sagan
Loretta Young
Sandra Bulock

Wow... positive and negative influences. I've found a lot of positives in anyone, though I've recognized people who were best described as poisonous, to be honest, and learned not to let them get too close. Anyone who dislikes a lot, very vocally, can definitely color your thinking if you spend too much time with them.

I find the positive in everyone I come in contact with, I try not to give the negative acknowledgement.

Negative - My exbf Bob
Positive - My friends

BTW.......Today is Saturday. If it is Sunday, oops I`m late for church.

Esther, what a wonderful idea for a thread. I've been very inspired already by what I've read here. My father, now deceased, was a very positive influence on me. He was incapacitated with arthritis from age 40, and it worsened over the years...but I rarely heard him complain. He enjoyed life and learned more from his armchair that many people I've known who've earned Ph.Ds and journeyed around the world.

Hmm.

For positive, one friend in particular stands out. During a rather rough patch of the growing up experience, he sort of became my mentor, as he was older. He was always around for me to talk to, babble at, share problems with, and because he was a bit older, I'd take his advice and comments a lot more seriously. Without him, I have a feeling I would have been really lost for that part of my life.

My dad also had a really positive influence... he was sick for most of my life (well, all of it, but progressively worse as I grew up) but he still had done all that he could for his family before his mobility grew too bad. His strength and perserverence through those earlier stages of his illness really set a high standard about pushing through.

For bad, hmm. It's harder to think of one; I always try to take each experience, bad or good, as something to learn from, to make me a better person, so there isn't a whole lot I feel really horribly about. There was, however, one particular ex boyfriend that messed with my head a lot... fairly certain that a few of the abandonment issues I have stemmed from him.

Most negative: a housemate I had 25 years ago. Now that I am thinking about her, I realize she had both good and bad, but at the time I moved out, I looked at her as nothing but ugly--on the inside and outside. She had a bad temper and din't know how to talk about anything without it.

Most positive: K., my friend of 18 years.

It's hard to pick one, the most influence people were first my mother's mother Greka who I spent a lot of my early childhood with. She was stern but goodhearted and taught me a lot, I wish I could have lived with her and my Dede, but we knew my father would never go it. Next in my life would be Jesus, I wanted to marry him when I was four and he has been patient with me, has loved me unconditionally and had been there a long time silently waiting for me to notice, which I finally did and I love him, God and the Holy Spirit with all my heart. Then it would be my fifth grade teacher Marie McConaughey who tried to help me stop my uncontollable crying at school and loved me as much as a teacher could. Then would be Marcie A., who was the occupational therapist, a friend and my maid of honor when I got married to John, who pointed out that the people around me thought if I could recovery they could recover and the things I was doing to kill my pain affected them. After she made me realise that my life made a difference to someone, I stopped my forays into the mind numbing activities I was drawn to. I started helping those people and got my focus off my troubles and stopped my poor behavior. Then my husband John came into my life and loved me unconditonally and was willing to bear the storms in my life and help me get my children back. He has stood by me for 28 years 7 months and has loved me through thick and thin. My children have influenced me greatly as they give me a reason to keep on going in this life no matter what hardship or illness I encounter. My Grandchildren love me as only little children can and made my time last year in the nursing home more bearable by climbing in bed with me and playing with the stuffed animals people gave me. Good article, but I think it's Saturday still. (smile)

My parents would have to be the ones who played the most positive part of my life as well as my brother and sister. Without them and my other family members I would not turned out to be the person that I am now. I also have a couple of friends who have helped me along the way as well. I had a couple of friends who were not so good friends and led me down the wrong path when I was younger. Fortunately I cut ties with them and moved on and made true friends. I think we all encounter good and bad people in our lives.

I try to look on the positive side of life, after meeting so many negative people
in my past, and try not to think about them very offten or they spoil my day.

I am trying to find the positive

One of the most positive was my 10th grade History teacher Molly McGregor. She taught me to question things if I thought they were wrong and to speak out. Thanks Molly, wherever you are.

The most beneficial lesson that was taught to me was by my late husband. He taught me to argue/fight/disagree and forgive and forget. Let the argument go once it is done and don't bring it up again. We needed to resolve the conflict or agree to disagree. That has helped me in all relationships since then.

That is great advice, Danielle. I'm sure you know that your husband gave you a gift that you can always use in relationships.

As for me, it was teacher - Faith Cavell at Elgin High School (1969). She taught me to give my best in all situations. I remind myself all the time. It has served me well.

Positive- my heartsisters.

Negative- my ex-sister in law, and a evil brat from 7th grade.

Positive has been professors, friends working to make their own lives make sense and some cool people on here at gather.com when I thought I'd hit anothe insumountable impasse. You kathleen! Also esther. and well, many people here. students have been an incredible source of knowledge and gratitude. The neg people were so negative it is frightening and I don't want to go there to day.

Positive - besides YOU my dear Esther S - was my father. He was a self-educated man that made it to department manager of a large corp and he was SOOOoooo honest it rubbed off on me and all of my siblings.

I am SO SORRY to see Karen T above say she HATES her father. That is so sad to me. Sorry Kren, I really am sorry for you.

Negative would be my first wife when we got divorced. The things she thought up to say about me and to write down for her lawyer - Fortunately, I was not stupid enough to hire another lawyer to fight her - I just responded with the truth to the court and got her lies removed as they lacked any proof.

Thanks es - nice one!

Looks like I'm late for this one.

My hubby has had a positive impact because of the kind of person he is and the kind of family he comes from.

My Father has had a negative impact because he is a deadbeat!

thanks for this

What a wonderful article Esther!
My most positive is my husband Dave of 16 1/2 years. He has been by my side through thick and thin. We have encountered many journeys together and each one has been a blessing in disguise. It continues to give us strength. Praise God he has truly been good to us both. There are so many positives in my life that I could go on and on. LOL!
Hmmmmmmm most negative are ppl that intentionally tend to belittle me but I am overcoming these obstacles together with Christ by my side and leading me each step of the way.:)

Years ago Sam Hayakawa, a linguist, and later a US Senator (Sleepin Sam) wrote a pamphlet about communicating and negotiating. The pamphlet was "Snarl Words, Purr Words.
There are ways of being "brutally honest" that cause a lashing out by the other person, yet the same subject with different words can product dialog, negotiation, and communication.

going thru your stuff to replay your kindness, even if i've seen it before!!

<3 Krystal