I'm no Pollyanna, but I'm no Negative Nelly either

We all have bad days.  The kind of days where you wish you could just go back to bed and pull the covers over your head and get a do over.  (I had one of those days yesterday!  If it could go wrong, it did!)  Most of the time, those days are few and far between.  Why is it then that so many people like to wallow around in negativity?  I know several people who have decent jobs that like to gripe and complain continuously about how horrible it is to work at XYZ Corporation while so many others, who are willing to work, can't find a job at all.  Doesn't matter what they get paid, it's never enough. Doesn't matter who they work with, they're all jerks.  Doesn't matter who the client is, they're all idiots.  Doesn't matter what the schedule is, it's never good enough.  Really?  Ever stop to think maybe the problem isn't your job, it's you?  Same goes for those  women and men who complain endlessly about their relationships (or lack of) with the opposite sex.  All they can talk about is how everyone is a deadbeat or a user or selfish or shallow or just doesn't understand them.  Hmm.  Ever think that maybe if you weren't so bitter and judgmental all the time, you might attract a better type of partner or keep the one you have?  Just a thought.  Family; some days you'd kill for them, some days you just want to kill them.  I understand, really, I do.  I have some issues of my own and then some, but eventually you have to stop blaming your childhood for the direction your life is taking as an adult.  You do have choices. I'm not talking about people who were abused as children. (I am so not qualified to give anyone my opinion on that subject!)  I am talking about the rest of us that maybe had or still have a crummy relationship with family.  Guess what?  There are a lot of us!  You don't have a monopoly on that!  How long are you going to drag around that baggage? Or should I say let it drag you around?  And then there are the people who continuously deride anything and anyone they don't agree with.  Their mantra is "Accept me the way I am!" and they will complain bitterly and loudly if everyone doesn't do just that.  Problem is, they aren't willing to do that with everyone else.  Someone else's political views are different?  They're uninformed and ignorant!  Someone else's religious views are different?  They're narrow minded and ignorant!  Someone's decision to have kids is different?  They're selfish and ignorant!  Someone's sexual orientation is different?  They're not open minded and ignorant!  Funny thing is all these examples work regardless of which side of the argument you're on!   You don't have to agree with other people's opinions, but you also don't have to attack them at every opportunity either.  I like to think of people like this as Energy Vampires because their constant negativity just sucks the life right out of everyone who's around them.  No one wants to be around people who drag them down.  People behaving badly.