Energy Vampires

        Last night, I was with a group talking about all sorts of things and one of the topics was energy vampires. The term itself raises eyebrows but before your mind gets too lost in images of Dracula and Twilight characters, redirect please because we have all come into contact with one of these.

       Energy Vampires are those negative people that enter your life and their very presence in it can literally suck the energy from you and leave you feeling tired and drained after contact with them. For some, it is a family member and others it is simply a friend whom for whatever reason you just can't shake. These people lurk everywhere. At work, school, and other various activities. A great quote was brought up from a Jewel song that says "Do not lend yourself to that which you wish to be free from." The obvious solution to these people in your life is to cut them loose and hope the door hits them on the way out. But as we all know, life is rarely so cut and dry. So then what?

      Protect and block. If by some cruel twist of fate you are forced to deal with the soul sucking negativity of an energy vamp, it is up to you to take control of the situation in order to preserve your own sanity. One way to deflect is to simply tune them out when they start to overwhelm you with their drama. If you are like me and internalize everything however, this is somewhat more difficult. So, what to do. A mental arsenal needs to be built and odd as this may seem, people in the paranormal fields use this as well so as to not absorb negative energy. One method is to use a talismen. Carry an object around in your pocket that you can draw positive strength from. When your boss from hell starts laying into you grab hold of that small object and draw strength from it. My husband carries about a bullet casing from the 21 gun salute at his brothers funeral. Oddly enough, his death is not what is remembered when he touches it, but his brothers strength, fortitude, and the love he had for him. I have a few objects that I can draw strength from but I chose a different method usually.

     A mental talismen, or state of mind, if visualized correctly, can act as a powerful shield against negative energy. My most powerful one is the one I call the Mother Bear. The most powerful love I have ever felt is the love I have for my children and the ones I love. I would break all rules and rationality for it and when threatened, it is a force to be reckoned with. Through many trials and tribulations I have learned to when I am hurt upset by others, it inadvertantly effects the ones I love negatively. That fierce protection instinct is my shield. When the negativity starts coming my way, I have to use this shield because I know that by letting it effect me, it will inevitably impact them and I will be damned if I will allow that.

     I am by no means perfect at doing this and I still let people get to me way more than I should. But by practicing that visualization of invoking a powerful emotion as a tool, I believe I can become better. Many limits of the mind are unknown and untapped. But I believe that this is a useful skill set to have and since the mind is a muscle, it should be utilized in many capacities. In this case, it helps you to be a more positive person with a protected psyche.



Finding a Balance

A friend of mine wrote a post today about saying what you mean and doing what you say and how this simple concept is not readily used in today's society. I have been thinking a lot about the world my children are entering into and I believe that we have gone a little to far in trying to protect our people and our children. She is right in what she said so I thought I would elaborate on it a bit.

The public school system in this country is a laughable joke, literally in some other countries. We have focused far too much attention on giving in to children's emotions, feelings, and social limitations that we have pretty much thrown learning out the window. I say this with firsthand knowledge, but teachers spend maybe 20% of their time teaching and the other 80% managing behavior. 50 years ago school was for learning, parents sided with the teacher, and corporal punishment was a real threat, kids learned something and there were no kids graduating without knowing how to read. Also sure that there were still bullies, learning disabilities and all other obstacles that kids face now but the majority came out relatively unscathyed. 

Here is what our country needs to do in order to become better. Simplify, people. The government is too big and corrupt. Take it back to how our founding fathers had it. Criminals should not get off on technicalities. Erase technicalities. Stupid lawsuits for spilling hot coffee on yourself and other useless get rich quick schemes should not be tolorated and thrown out and ignored. Medical lawsuits should be done away with, drug companies should stop making silly cosmetic drugs like eyelash enhancers and lower the cost of their critical products, and doctors should go back to actually caring about the patients, not the healthcare companies and drup reps. This would eliminate the healthcare crisis in this country.

 Just like driving, school should be a priveledge. You are being given an opportunity to better yourself. You want to show your ass and fool around and cause problems for that poor teacher all your classmates? Leave and don't come back. See how quick a parent can whip their kid into shape when they have to deal with their crap all day long and stay home with the little brat or find someone tolerant enough to do so. Parents need to go back to raising their kids and not pushing that responsibility off on day care and school systems. We need to take care of our elderly relatives too while we are at it. There are many family units these days but in trying to recognize all of them too many have lost the sense of family. That needs to be regained and quickly.

The government...oh this is a fun one. Quite simply, as an offical, you get paid the same as every other middle class blue collar worker out there and no one should be allowed to give themselves raises when being paid with government money. By simplifying the governement, your job becomes less. In 1776, our Congress and Senate was made up of forward minded candlemakers, printers, and farmers. That is where it needs to be again. Big businesses are TOO big and the word business literally claims to value primarily making as much income as possible. Business does not need to have any part in politics. We have so many choices now that we can afford to be selective without help from the government concerning what businesses we wish to back. We still may have taxation with representation but only barely. There is a tax on pretty much everything now. Pet tax, car tax, even tax on tax returns now. That needs to go. Tax the basics and move on with life. Maybe then our government will stop spending so much on petty frivolities and take a serious look at the budget and where it seriously should go.

We the people....that is written somewhere, is it not? We have become desensitized to what life is about. We have veered away from loving thy neighbor in a drastic way. Don't believe me? Ever watch those "What Would You Do" specials on TV? People walk right past a bad situation and only a few ever step forward to take action against it. Abortions, marraige, and all other social platforms should not be campaigning fodder. They are social so allow society to work that out on their own terms. We the people need to focus on gaining more as a community and less about trying to control every aspect of each others lives. This country is supposed to be a melting pot of not only different ethnicities but different ideologies as well. If this country wants to be better, we have to become more tolorant of each others beliefs and values. We have to scale down in a big way and stop trying to make so many rules that the system fails us. We have to stop overpaying musicians and athletes and start paying nurses and teachers. We, as a country, need to get our priorities strait and right now they are catywompus. One failed bomb attempt at an airport and we cannot bring water bottles through security. But how many school shootings have happened and still nothing done about that.

There will always be bad things out in this world. Murder, rape, poverty, bigotry, and corruption are all things that throughout the history of humanity have always been. It is likely they always will be. It is simply the balance of things. People in their self indulgent entitlement, have lost sight of the bigger picture. We all do, from time to time, but it seems to be trending more towards a permanant state of mind. What is wrong with this country is not the president, gun control, gay rights, or any other popular topic. It is the general attitude of it's citizens which needs to change before the history of this country repeats itself.