Energy is Contagious: letting go of toxic people

Energy is contagious.

As parents, we can program a child’s mind in much the same way we can program a computer. Our ideas, values, and ingrained ways of thinking- in other words, our own “programs”- effortlessly download onto their young minds. What follows is that our children begin to “run” whatever programs we have intentionally (or unintentionally) installed.

If a parent struggles with scattered, disordered, or dysfunctional thinking, that same disordered thinking gets programmed into their children. This happens consciously and unconsciously, through verbal communication, non-verbal communication, and behavior modeling.

Children imitate what they see and will interact with the world in the manner which has been modeled for them by the adults in their lives.

An anxious parent will raise anxious children. A reactive, emotionally unstable, angry parent will raise reactive, emotionally unstable, angry children.

Because energy is contagious, it passes from one person to another like a cold virus on an airplane.

We were all children once.

If we look at our personal thought and behavior patterns in the context of programming a computer, and recognize that we were ALL children who were once subjected to a certain type of “programming,” we can begin to see that our current behavior patterns have origins that extend beyond our genetics.

Growing up in a physically or emotionally chaotic environment, children are forced to adopt their parent’s dysfunctional programming and then behave in ways necessary to survive that environment. As a result, they may adopt behaviors that are reactive, manipulative, controlling, or isolating; all which may have served a purpose initially, but which cause problems in their relationships later on.

As children, we were stuck with the parents we were dealt and the programming that came with them.

But as adults, in control of our own CPUs, we can remove those old dysfunctional programs and replace them with newer, healthier programs instead.

We were all children once, but as adults we are now in control of our mental programming and behaviors, as well as the energy we give out and attract.

Write a new program.

“Energy contagion” is an excellent way to describe how dysfunctional programming passes through generations as well as how it passes through workplaces, social circles, and cultural groups.

As T. Harv Eker writes, “Would you hug and hold a person you knew had a severe case of the measles? Most people would say, “No way, I don’t want to catch the measles…” Negative thinking is like having measles of the mind. Instead of itching, you get bitching; instead of scratching, you get bashing; instead of irritation, you get frustration.”

Do you really want to be close to people like that?

We have every right to write and run a new program of our choosing just as we have every right to consciously choose the people we continually interact with and allow into our lives.

If our intention is to perform on a higher level, with a greater level of functioning, the necessary first step is to surround ourselves with others who are also performing and functioning on a similarly high level.

We must ask ourselves the question, do we want to affect others? Or infect others?

And do we want to allow others to affect, or infect, us?

Energy is contagious. If we don’t want to be infected with negativity, we must make the decision to let toxic people go.