I would like to preface this with a few personal statements; first, I
have never previously, nor am I now, claiming to be an expert. I can
only speak for myself, from my own personal experiences. Second, I
understand that quite a few of us work with the public on a daily
basis; I just chose this particular subject because I am a customer
service representative for one of the top 5 Wireless providers. I am,
obviously, also empathic.
So, that being stated...
There has been a lot of discussion lately, across many different
boards, regarding negative energy. Most people would consider this the
perfect time of year to have an abundance of POSITIVE energy -
shouldn't we be in our "holiday cheer" mode, after all? Unfortunately,
that just isn't the case anymore. The majority of the world no longer
cares about the "reason for the season"; it's all about what we can
get for ourselves and to hell with everyone else. This is not longer a
celebration (regardless of your religious belief); it's a time to
spend, spend, spend. This all leads to a lot of negativity; if you
don't believe me, take a look around the next time you're out shopping!
Of course, in the midst of all the holiday gloom, we must continue to
pay our regular bills, which is where I come in. Doing customer
service for a wireless provider can be hard enough for an Empath in
May, let alone in December when no one wants to part with any more
money. Add to this stress the fact that I work in a department that
mostly handles calls from customers who have been notified their
service is going to be cancelled or restricted due to contract
violations.
As anyone who has known me for a while can attest, I have difficulty
shielding beyond that which my body does naturally. This has made
dealing with negative energy very difficult in the past. I didn't
start out feeding from negative energy; it became necessary to retain
both my job and a semi-satisfying life quality. A bonus result for me?
My customers are just that much better when we end our call (with
exceptions, ALWAYS) than before when their negative energy would bog
me down and cause me to be to be negative in return. Rather than
lifting their negativity away, I could end up adding to it on accident
and the call/interaction didn't always turn out so well.
For me, negative energy feeding is fairly simple - I listen to the
customer...As I listen, I acknowledge and resolve their issues. We
chat a bit, joke a bit, whatever. After a while, I feel a
little "boost" -- as if the negative energy was removed from their
shoulders. From there, I am able to gather it into myself to process
by picturing it like a cloud in a cartoon - moving from them to me
(you know, the little rain cloud that goes from one person to another
to signify a bad day)...I take the energy I need and then picture the
rest leaving my body into the floor - not the ground, I work on the
second floor.
I don't take a lot; that might lead to over-feeding. Just a little
here and there. In addition to the possible over feeding, I consider
the possibility of taking the newly discovered positive
emotions/energy back from the customer. That would just be a vicious
circle leading us right back where we started!
Obviously, as I don't fall under the category of expert, this doesn't
always work for me. I do, occasionally, get overwhelmed by the
negativity of the customer. When this happens, I can only take a step
back and breathe deeply. And of course, keep in mind I am only
responsible for my own actions, no one else's. (This would be a good
time to chat about shielding, but again - not my forte!)
Well, that was a tiny peek into my Monday through Friday life. I hope
you enjoyed it - if you have any questions, feel free to email me!
Laura Drone