Most People Are Not Soul Suckers

Most people give and take equally.  

Most people are conscientious, balanced, and are nice to be around.  

Most people do not feed off of the souls of others.  

But in my personal experience, the handful of people who classify as "energy parasites," who do manage to suck the life force from my being, usually succeed at occupying 90% of my time, and accordingly, diminish 90% of my energy - never mind that I'm operating on 75% capacity as it is. 

It is totally awesome to deal with a sucker on a day when I actually feel bright eyed and bushy tailed, but on the other 364 days during the year, when I have that boggy mental clutter I mentioned in my last post - lets just say its a real drag.  

So when I saw this picture from I'm Not Right In The Head.com, it was like I was looking at a mirror; a special kind of mirror that could reflect back images of my inner self at the end of many work days.  Consequently, frequent brushes with said drainers leaves my soul feeling a bit like how this kid looks on the outside; only less bubbly.  Today being no exception, considering a headache that was brought on from my 8:00 AM meeting with one such colleague/human free radical, which has just now started to subside at 9:00 PM. 

And since I believe that knowledge is power, I thought I'd go ahead and share with you, my blog reading peeps, how not to bleed others dry...Figuratively speaking, of course.

Furthermore, with that intro, I decided it is best to highlight for you how NOT to parch the life out of others who come into contact with you at work, at home, in the car, on the phone, in a handwritten note, or in an email. Also, let's not forget about the hard working people in various service occupations who happen to serve you at a restaurant, make you a drink at a bar, tend to your hospitality needs at a hotel, help you find the item you want but don't need at a retail store, the ER doctor who tends to your injured knee at the hospital and the nurses who take orders from said doc, the stylist at your hair salon, the school psychologist at your child's school, etc, etc...who often fall victim to hostile undead drones. 

This is information that could be crucial, especially if you fancy the thought of being a kind, supportive person who generally likes to help make the world a better place.  Which, in my book, merely refraining from creating a slow drain on other human beings' will to live, is automatic 'making the world a little bit better place' good karma.  So here is my list of "don'ts" for anyone interested in making a small difference in this place we call Earth.  Let's go ahead and think of this list as "Sunny's Little Butterfly Effect."  

Here we go...please don't:

1. Complain: Lets face it, sometimes we need to vent.  Venting, I'd argue, is actually healthy to a point.  Because truth be told, to some extent, misery really does love company.  But what I am talking about here is complaining to the point, that if the complainer was actually listening to the responses that others were giving them, they would notice the lack of commiseration and would instead hear courtesy utterances such as, "um hm, uh huh, yeah....mmmm oh, uh huh, that sucks...I don't know, hmmm..yeah, no, really? oh."  The type of soul sucking that takes place here, is generally interpersonal in nature.  Its up close and personal and is usually a "conversation" between the sucker and suckee, with one person benefiting with an energy surplus from the transaction, while the other person experiences the exact opposite effect.  This is not a mutually beneficial exchange.  I know from experience....please refer to my example below for evidence. 

2. Cluck: This is a special type of complaining that generally thrives off of a gang mentality and usually involves lots of gossip about anyone not within earshot.  It is an activity that can suck the life force out of a staff break room (i.e. chicken coop) with the same flash of ferocity as a deadly raging backdraft blaze.  Cluckers complain and gossip about the same things over-and-over-and-over-and-over again with fellow cluckers who also speak fluent 'cluck'; a language foreign and frightening to the non-fluent.  I swear, every time I hear it, it sounds like this, "bk bk bk bk bok BOK bk BOK BUHCOK bok bk bkbkbkbk."  But if I listen really carefully, I can occasionally make out something like, "Can you believe that? How hard can it be for Chickadee, since I do EVERYTHING myself? I get no help...I have to do SO much...You would think they would give me more help..."  And what's even more chilling, is that said cluckers cluck about the same loop of chicken crap day-after-day-after-day-after-day and tend to cluck louder-and-louder-and-louder as more cluckers join the coop.  I'm not sure, but I think this is how they elect an alpha; a clucker who can represent the group by clucking the loudest, pecking the hardest, flapping their wings the widest, laying the biggest egg, and 'bok bok boking' longest.  But be warned this is no ordinary barnyard hen: The Alpha is not to be crossed!  The reigning High Cluckess has no aversion to devouring any weakling who dare disagree with the coop - even if it means eating their own.  They are, in fact, cannibals (think hens pecking at a bucket of KFC).  Its horrifying to watch.  But mostly onlookers are just grateful that it is not happening to them...this time.   Passers by are rightfully fearful about intervening, as such bravery could be greatly detrimental to their vital organs, bone marrow, and/or soulforce.  I know firsthand...I have suffered the wrath on many occasions...Examples to come at a future date.

3. Catastrophize: This is a potentially silent but deadly form of soul sucker.  The catastrophizer genuinely believes that the sky is falling with every single paper-cut they receive.  These people worry about EVERYTHING and will not rest until you are either paralyzed by the fear of God as well OR until you use your magical powers to magically fix their magically concocted catastrophes.  The danger with this type of drone is their ability to convince you of the dangers that in fact, do not exist.  Catastrophizers can initially seem like very nice people and can lure you into their web of doom by preying on your willingness to help avert disaster.  However, the problem comes when you realize that they seem to react with the same sense of urgency to everything.  These soul suckers are unable to discern real disaster from mere inconvenience.  And the catastrophizer can easily turn into a catastrophizing, clucking, complaining triple energy zapping zombie if you are not careful.  I know from experience.  Remember that headache I told you about?  Yes, it was the result of a two hour meeting with just such a triple threat.  My experience has taught me that the headache is a symptom of life-force depletion.  The worse the headache, the stronger the threat to my core being - and it can be deadly.  Sometimes, I take preemptive Tylenol before a meeting with this type of individual; though today, my cluttered foggy mind failed me.   

For those of you who have not already seen this rant, or those of you who are skeptical that I speak the truth, I offer the following example of a recent transaction between a an alpha cluck-plainer colleague of mine, who regularly zaps me dry without warning.  A real delight, let me tell you.  Enjoy!

The scene: I'm in my Roach Motel office (see my post "No, I'm Not Gonna Share My Wand to see said monster roach), working away on paperstuff - diligently crossing all my T's and dotting every i, when the phone rings... 

Ring ring... 

Me: "hello" 
Complainer: "Sunny, It's Complainer, you went and cleared Billy's report document in the computer and now.." 
Me: "I di.." 
Complainer: "..now it's erased and I worked really.." 
Me: "..I havent.." 
Complainer: "hard on it late last night and you cleared it and now it's gone and now it won't give me access anymore!" 
Me: "Complainer, I haven't even logged into his document." 
Complainer: "..Because I wrote all these goals and now I can't even get back into the system.."
Me: "I didn't clear it...I haven't even logged in." 
Complainer: "Well it's gone and I worked late on it for the meeting tomorrow and since you cleared it now I can't get back in..!" 
Me: "I didn't clear it...I haven't logged in at all." 
Complainer: "You haven't?!?" 
Me: "no" 
Complainer: "Oh, because I keep trying and now it's blank and I don't know what to do because I wrote all these goals and now I can't even get in.." 
Me: "I don't know? Maybe check with the person in charge of the system." 
Complainer: "oh, okay." 

...click. 

End of call.

"Click...click...click" the sound of my Suck-O-Meter registering the drop in my vital energy...

                                                  The Zombies - Tell Her No

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