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LIVING WITH BAD VIBES

Human Relations

Some of us are sensitive to the feelings we pick up from people in the immediate environment. The feelings we sense from the people around us can be as powerful as odors and sounds. We can feel tense in the presence of domineering people, and we can be uncomfortable around people who seem resentful.

Acceptance and knowledge help us retain mastery of ourselves in these situations. But we don’t have to tune in to another person’s bad feelings, just as we wouldn’t tune in to a radio station whose music bothered us. We can also detach from the situation in thought, just as Al- Anon-trained spouses detach from alcoholics in a spirit of love and understanding.

The less we try to resist such a situation, the less power it has to disturb us. And the less involved we become with such situations, the sooner they seem to change. People in Twelve Step pro-grams sometimes report miraculous changes when they adjust their own feelings. One frequently hears of outcomes such as this: “I learned not to let this person bother me, and two weeks later he was transferred to another department!”

My own sensitivity makes me vulnerable to good or bad feelings in the atmosphere. Recognizing them for what they are. I’ll enjoy the good feelings and refuse to be disturbed or upset by those that seem bad.

© 1996 by Hazelden Foundation 

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