and repeatedly? My friend is determined to be in a negative mood and he searches for things to complain about endlessly and repeated but doesn't do anything to make himself feel better. He is a firm believer that venting his anger and frustration is a positive thing and not a negative thing. If I suggest any kind of action to resolve the issue, he gets angry. For instance, about once a week he will vent for about two hours at a time about how much he hates the cable company and how he wants to get rid of it. When I make an effort to find out for him what steps he might need to take to do so, he gets angry with me and says, "I should never talk to you about what I'm feeling." I realize some people need to vent but isn't there a limit? Isn't there a point to where it crosses the line from being healthy venting to just plain toxic negativity? How do you in the yahoo community personal deal with chronic, excessive complainers? Thank you
Also, I forgot to mention that he actually wants me to sit and listen to these repeated rants. If I try to do my own thing, he gets terribly offended and then I become the subject of his complaints. I used to get sucked into an argument at this point but now I know better to just keep quiet. The difficult part is waiting for his venting to end so that I can get back to what I was doing without him getting so offended.
Also, I forgot to mention that he actually wants me to sit and listen to these repeated rants. If I try to do my own thing, he gets terribly offended and then I become the subject of his complaints. I used to get sucked into an argument at this point but now I know better to just keep quiet. The difficult part is waiting for his venting to end so that I can get back to what I was doing without him getting so offended.