The Whine Fest: You’re Hurting My Brain

Kathy at Creating Passionate Users has a spot-on post up about how angry or negative people can hurt your brain. This is actually fascinating stuff:

Listen to people complaining endlessly about work, and you’ll find yourself starting to do the same. How many of us have been horrified to suddenly realize that we’ve spent the last half-hour caught up in a gossip session–despite our strong aversion to gossip? The behavior of others we’re around is nearly irresistible.

This is really practical down to Earth stuff in the application and I’ve observed this to be true in my life. In a job of Telephone Customer Service its particularly hard if you get into a funk of getting negative people calling in to rise above that and remain positive. I have to make an effort, and anyone who does well and lasts long in that business has got to.

I’ve made some changes in my life to avoid as much negativity. I’ve tried to avoid taking part in Whine fests over work or anything else. If its an overly negative attitude in the conversation, I try and cut if of.

I no longer listen to the Michael Savage Show is one example. I’d be driving down the street, listening him and getting angry and depressed, depressed and angry, and when I’d get home I’d be in a sour mood, even if I’d just had a phenomenal day at work, I’d be ticked off because Michael Savage put me in one.

In the political blogosphere its a challenge. I can only take so much of some blogs. I have a very small number of liberal blogs in my Bloglines, because there’s only so much of all that negativity I can take and there are some woe is me Republicans, I just toon out because there message is so negative and depressing.

I have to admit staying positive and being positive are a challenge for me. I’m an analytical person who knows the odds and knows when they’re against me. I’m a hyper-perfectionist who always rates my own work poorly. Its a struggle to be positive in the midst of the gunk we’re covering, but you’ve got to be.

I think the story does more than just talk about the brain or ways to remain positive and energetic. It also tells us really how to be a successful blogger. Be the type of hopeful, positive person that people want to read. Not necessarily a polyanna type, but someone who sees the world clearly but can still be positive. A constant negative drone is going to get tuned out by everyone but negative people.