[Senderman]

fwiw, and this is going to sound incredibly cliché,

One thing I've found is that - people you're in relationships or freindships, of whatever kind, with - they put out a mix of positivity, negativity, whatever -

The only way to master the problem of people 'lifting you up' or 'bringing you down' is to own your own moods, and not ride the whimsy of positivity or negativity that other people are putting out towards you - then you can see other people's negativity for what it is - it might be their problems projected, their interactions with the world gone wrong, who knows - and you can help them - or choose not to.

There is negativity in the world, not negative people - you can avoid it, even successfully, but to be comfortable with it and navigate it well - that's a whole other world.

If you're not in a stable place emotionally, the advice in this article might apply, and I hope things get better for you.

All I know is I love my friends, including the one's who are hopelsss at being in any way encouraging. I see it as my problem and my job to be OK with them. And I think a lot of people share that attitude.

Pardon the rant. The topic got me worked up a bit.

[kome]

Very well put, thank you!

There is an underlying utilitarian vision of life in the main article, that really twist me in the wrong way. Not everything is a market interaction and real friendship are a bit more complicated than that.

[serpix]

Thank you! It seems you've done a lot of work to arrive where you are now. And it probably wasn't easy either. I see the world like this as well and it is great to read about like minded people!