Birds of a feather

Just a quick thought today: who are you surrounding yourself with?

I've thought more and more about this lately. I don't have a lot of time to invest in relationships. My marriage and kids take up a lot of my time and I devote a good chunk of my time to my fitness (and with it, my family, my future, my psychological well-being, etc.). As a result, I've begun limiting time I spend with negative people. Negative people suck your positivity and bring down your mood. Why would you want that?

By nature, I'm an introvert. In other words, being around people tends to drain me. I need time by myself, or at least quiet time off in a corner, to recharge. If the people I'm around are negative, it's even worse. I get frustrated. Some people aren't even negative, but they're takers. There's no give with them and they will suck you dry if you let them. Limit your time with them. If they're family, I don't advocate cutting them out of your life unless they are really toxic and damaging. But it's not a relationship you need to invest a lot of time and energy in.

I'm trying to be more positive too. I don't want to be a gossip or someone people avoid because all I do is talk about ME and my life. I want to be a person people enjoy being around and enrich their life. Part of that is just being more conscious of my mood and what I say. I decide if I am happy. I can find the positive if I look for it. To be honest, I don't need to look very hard to find the good in my life. I've started surrounding myself with more positive, like-minded people. If someone is supportive and stubbornly positive, I want them near me. I've "liked" and friended more and more people like this, especially in the fitness field. It keeps me motivated and thinking positively. You begin to reflect the people around you.

So who are you reflecting?