The Great Energy Divide: Positive Versus Negative People

“Some people walk into a room and light it up. Others dim the lights the moment they enter. Choose wisely.”

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life and business, it’s this: energy is contagious, and it matters immensely who you surround yourself with.

Every relationship—personal or professional—either lifts you or weighs you down. There’s no neutral. There’s positive energy that expands your perspective, fuels your hope, and deepens your purpose. And then there’s negative energy that drains your optimism, erodes your confidence, and keeps you stuck.

The choice may seem subtle—but over time, it shapes everything.

The Weight of Negative Energy

You know the signs. Negative energy doesn’t whisper—it drags.

• It shows up as constant complaints.
• It sees problems in every solution.
• It justifies failure by blaming everything external.
• It’s threatened by growth—especially someone else’s.
• It waits for you to disappoint, because it expects you to.

People like this make everything feel harder. Heavier. Slower. They drain rooms. They second-guess progress. They call it “realism,” but it’s really just fear with better PR.

Negative people often don’t even know they’re negative. It’s how they’ve learned to survive. But survival isn’t thriving. And being around them for too long makes you start to survive instead of thrive, too.

The Lift of Positive Energy

On the other hand, positive energy carries a lightness. Not because life is easier—but because the outlook is different.

Positive people:

• Celebrate your wins.
• Genuinely believe in your potential.
• Offer encouragement, not criticism disguised as “feedback.”
• Stay hopeful—even when the facts don’t support it yet.
• Leave you feeling like more—not less—of yourself.

And this past weekend, I was reminded just how powerful that energy can be.

Paul: A Walking Example of Light Over Weight

I had the gift of spending time this past week with a longtime friend—Paul. Distance makes it hard for us to see each other as often as we’d like although thankfully we still talk by phone on a semi-regular basis. He’s someone who’s been a steady source of positive energy in my life for almost 50  years. He’s the kind of guy who has always made me feel better about who I am and what I’m capable of. He’s never been threatened by my growth—he’s proud of it. He’s rooted for me, cared about me, and supported me more than I probably deserve.

He’d give you the shirt off his back and never talk about it again.

But here’s the thing that hit me hardest this weekend:

Paul has been through some things.

I’m talking about real trauma. Life-altering challenges that would’ve broken most people. Honestly, just one of the things he’s faced would have brought some folks to their knees. But not Paul.

He didn’t let it weigh him down. He didn’t become bitter. He didn’t turn inward. He kept going. He kept showing up. He kept looking for the light.

Of course he’s not perfect. Nobody is. But he’s shown me—time and time again—that you can still be kind, hopeful, and optimistic even when life punches you in the gut.

And that is a blessing. A rare one.

What moved me most this week? Watching Paul sit down with my son. He looked him in the eye, poured belief into him, and made him excited about who he is and who he could become. No agenda. No lecture. Just love, presence, and positive energy.

He made my son feel seen.

That’s a gift. And I will spend the rest of my life looking for more time with people like Paul—people who give energy rather than take it, who live in the light even after walking through darkness.

The Choice We All Get to Make

You may not control your entire environment. Maybe your boss is negative. Maybe you have to deal with challenging clients or peers.

But you do control:

• Who you trust.
• Who you seek out.
• Who gets the real version of you.

Choose people who give you energy, not those who constantly take it.

You don’t need more people telling you what can’t be done. You need more people reminding you of what’s still possible.

Final Thought: Cross the Divide

We all live on one side of the energy divide—every day, in every interaction.

• Do you lift or do you drain?
• Do you bring light or cast shadows?
• Do you pour into people or poke holes in their confidence?

And more importantly: Which side are the people around you living on?

The longer I live, the more convinced I am that this is one of the most important choices you make.

So spend more time with the Pauls of the world.

They may not be loud, flashy, or famous—but they carry light. They carry strength. They carry joy. And they prove that hope isn’t naïve—it’s powerful.

Let me know if you’d like a second quote graphic using this new part of the story—something like:

“The strongest people are the ones who’ve seen darkness, but still choose to be the light.”

— Ed Robinson