It's time To Let Go of Negative People.
Here's Now.

Are you a stepmom who holds on to all the negative things the ex or stepkids say and think about you? Even when you know that holding on to negativity makes you miserable? It’s time you learn to let go of the negative people in your life.

Here’s how.

One of the reasons stepmoms hold on to negative emotions and thoughts, making them feel resentful, is the feeling they have no control over their lives. 

Let me repeat this and make it sharable....

You don’t have control over certain things like death, illness, or maybe divorce. That’s when you feel like life is happening TO you. Perceived loss of control can lead you to feel and see negativity everywhere, especially from the ex and your stepkids.

As a stepmom, maybe you’re not sure of how to let go of negative people in your life. Your well-meaning family and friends may offer you trivial advice such as “suck it up” or “just deal with it.” Although well-intentioned, these types of advice do nothing to help you learn how to let go of negative people. In fact, the opposite is more likely true. All these comments do is create more stress and anxiety for yourself and accentuate your lack of control over your life.

Here are a few techniques to help you regain a sense of control and stop negative people from crowding your life.

Mindfulness

Meditation, yoga, and martial arts are all about letting go and helping you get back into a more balanced life, in other words, regaining a sense of control over your life. When you feel you are more in control of what’s going on, you are better equipped to handle a hostile ex or stepkids. These help you focus on yourself and what’s important to you. Martial arts is a great way to build up that confidence you might be lacking when you’re constantly faced with negative comments.

Journaling

One of my favorite techniques for dealing with negativity in my life is journaling. When you write down all those negative thoughts and emotions, you can feel them leave your body and be transferred onto the paper. One of the techniques I’ve used was to write my negative thoughts on paper and then burn them. They are then gone forever. Feel it’s a bit much for you? You can tear your paper up to shreds and then toss them in the trash. This is also very effective.

Boundaries

Finally, there are times when the only way to deal with negative people is to confront them. Whenever you’re dealing with an overbearing ex or disrespectful stepkids, one thing you can do is create strong and healthy boundaries. Whenever you set your boundaries, do it in a firm yet calm way. This is not the time to lose your temper. Be prepared that they may respond to you by being even more negative than before. Be clear and firm about your boundaries and your expectations of how they treat you. Be consistent.

Dealing with negative people is never easy or pleasant. And in some cases, you might have to repeat the process many times. That’s OK. As long as you are consistent and clear about your goal to avoid letting negative people get to you, they will eventually move on, enabling you to let go and move on with your life as a stepmom and a wife.