Get Rid Of The ‘Moldy Blueberries’ In Your Life

Positive energy spreads, and is infectious. Think about the positive, optimistic people in your life and how, whenever they walk into a room with their laughter, smiles and humor, they just raise the vibration of the entire room. Of course, excluding the really negative people in the room, who choose to remain impervious.

Yes, positive energy is contagious, but so too is negative energy. Just like the mildew on one bad blueberry, kept in a container with other blueberries, it spreads mildew and rot to all the other blueberries around it.

I remember walking into my dance studio one day, many years ago, and finding most of the moms, who had kids in my class, in the waiting room. I took this opportunity to show them the children’s costumes for our upcoming dance recital. The moms were instantly in love with the outfits. Some even became sentimental and teary-eyed. They commented excitedly on all of the bright sequins, the colors and styles. They all talked enthusiastically about how much they loved it, and how truly beautiful these designs were.

Then one mom arrived late, while I was in the office. I could not be seen by the group of mothers, but I could hear them. The late-arriving mom noticed the costumes and immediately began to complain about every aspect of it. She was very critical and felt they were “cheap-looking.” She even claimed that the moms had all been “ripped off” and that I over charged them.

Toxic people will pollute everything around them. Don’t hesitate. Fumigate ~ Mandy Hale

Being young and naïve at the time, I let it go, hoping the other moms would defend me and counterbalance what she was saying. After all their previously positive comments and sentimentality, I did not expect them to also turn on me. But, instead, when I went back into the waiting room, I was suddenly blasted from all directions. A group of angry moms were now confronting me about “not giving them their money’s worth.” One moldy blueberry had spread her toxic mildew to everyone in that waiting room… in a matter of minutes!

Now, the moral of this story is rather simple. I have had several issues and problems with the ‘moldy mom’ many, many times before. She was constantly discontented and always in a foul mood. The truth was that she was stuck in a miserable marriage, struggling to save her failing business, and raising an unhappy, insecure child with her constant verbal abuse and criticism. And she wanted to make it everyone else’s problem.

She had been a thorn in my side from the first moment her daughter joined the studio a year ago. It had been a full year of complaining, and often getting many of the other moms riled up to also complain, for no reason. I should have asked her to leave early on, before she had a chance to spread her negative toxicity.

I had learned my lesson. From that moment on, any time a new mom came in, who showed signs of being a ‘moldy blueberry,’ she was politely asked to leave. Whenever they came to me with unreasonable or attention-seeking complaints, I would say, very courteously and tactfully, that it sounded to me “like you aren’t happy here.” I would add that I really wanted her, and her daughter, to be happy and feel at home, and therefore I would be more than happy to recommend some great alternative studios in the area for them join.

Like arsenic, toxic people will slowly kill you. They kill your positive spirit and play with your mind and emotions. The only cure is to let them go ~ Dennisse Lisseth

Now, these moms typically did not really want to leave. They just wanted to abuse me as their emotional punch bag, and they wanted others to be as miserable and unhappy as they were. Most of the time, when I would recommend they join another studio, they would immediately back down and suddenly assure me they were perfectly happy at my studio. A few of them did leave, but most of them chose to stay. I guess things were not as unsatisfactory as they claimed after all!

This strategy didn’t solve all of my problems at the dance studio, but it certainly helped a great deal, and it prevented them from spreading their negativity in my studio. Do yourself a favor and get rid of the ‘moldy blackberries’ in your life. Eliminate the toxic people. It will make your world much more peaceful and harmonious.