The truth is that negative people are difficult to deal with. You might be knowing such chronically negative people, friends, relatives, workmates, or your boss, who have a default negative mindset and leave a negative vibe wherever they go.
They are perpetually complaining and playing the victim. Having to deal with such people and their negative energy can be a tricky business. You need to fight off their negative aura so that it doesn’t bring you down but also react with kindness. Here are 9 positive comebacks to help deal with negative people.
1. “I Hope You Feel Better Soon.”
The person is usually unprepared for a response like this, which expresses concern, but also tactfully puts an end to the negative conversation. While you are showing concern, you are avoiding feeling sorry for their situation or agreeing with their negative mindset. It is likely that the person will feel thankful for your concern and might just walk away. The point is, it puts an end to the negative talk.
2. “Try Focusing On The Positive.”
The phrase is perfect for highlighting their negative attitude without sounding rude. When someone is being negative constantly, it is likely that that person isn’t seeking any sort of advice, but this gentle reminder requesting them to focus on the positive things might help open their eyes to how negative they have been of late. They might not accept your advice, but at least you tried to show them how very negatively they are perceiving everything.
Read How to Stay Positive around Negative People
3. “Let Me Know If There’s Anything I Can Do To Help.”
The saddest truth about negative people is that they aren’t looking for solutions to their problems. They just want to rant, vent out their frustration, and in general, make you feel sympathetic towards them. Even though you might feel sorry for them, you can do little to help them, simply because they don’t want to be helped out of their negative aura. So chances are they will decline your offer to help them. However, this response will most likely distract them long enough for you to excuse yourself from that situation.
4. “Don’t Allow Yourself To Dwell Too Much.”
This phrase is intended to create the same effect as the phrase “Try to focus on the positive”– to show them how negative they have been acting lately. Essentially, you’re trying to make the negative people aware that they have been dwelling on their problems way too long without looking for a solution, but without sounding harsh. You can only hope that they listen to your advice and try to find a way out of the negative phase they are stuck in. In case they ignore your advice, you have still tried to get them thinking in the right way.
5. “Think Of Something That Makes You Happy”
This response works if presented in the right way. This general statement may need some elaboration, depending on the situation and person you’re dealing with. If the negative person happens to be someone close to you, and you say these words with genuine kindness, it increases the chance of them heeding your good advice.
