Thursday; November 15

          Have you ever been in a situation where one person seems to ruin everyone else’s mood?  In recent years the terminology used to describe someone like is that they have a “toxic personality”.  These toxins can be found in all areas of our life – in our families, in our jobs, in our friendships, in our social organizations – even in our churches, but they have one thing in common, they suck the life right out of us!  Their constant negativism, criticism and cynicism makes the rest of us miserable! 
          While most of us are familiar with these situations, we are often confronted with the challenge of what we should do with them.  Well, while the term “toxic personality” might be new, the issue has been around since the beginning of time and so has the answer.  When the wise man of the Old Testament pondered on this issue he wrote, “Drive out the scoffer, and contention will go out, even strife and dishonor will cease.” (Proverbs 22:10).   This may sound a bit poetic – so let me see if I can reduce it down a bit.  In the immortal words of Barney Fife, “You gotta nip it, nip it in the bud!”.  Simply put, if we are going to deal with human toxicity, it might require removing that person (or that person’s influence) from our environment.  It may mean getting rid of a friend or dismissing an employee.  It might mean isolating ourselves from a relationship or asking an acquaintance to leave our social group.  If toxins are allowed to exist in a system, they are bound to taint everything in that system; therefore, for the good of the whole, we may have to cut our ties with them.  It probably won’t be easy and it sure won’t be pleasant, but it may be necessary.
          Are we having to deal with a toxic influence?  The answer may not be tolerating it – the solution might be in isolating the poison away from our life or our group.
         Think About It!

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