Do you know a Debbie Downer? Or a Chris Complainer? Whatever the name, you get the idea—some people just tend to poo-poo everything. It’s hard to be happy when you’ve got a mope moping around all the time. Whether you are this person or you have a person in your life like this, we have to find ways to conquer the constant carping.

Here are a few Sunny Suggestions to get your Negative Nancy positive again.

1. Be happy by example: Maybe if they see you enjoying life, they’ll start to get the idea. Perhaps you feel guilty for being positive when someone else is down in the dumps. But if they’re constantly in the dumps and it’s not situational, there’s no reason that you should stoop down there with em. Add a little sunshine to their clouds.

2. Don’t feed in to it: If the crappy comments keep coming, don’t condone them. It can be easy to complain right back when you want to be relatable to someone but you’ll soon see that this leads to a vicious cycle of gloom and doom. If Debbie keeps whining away, then just change the subject with something positive.

3. Introduce them to positive people: Downers may need public displays of positivity to get the hint. Once they start seeing that many people prefer positivity over pessimism, they just might want to join along. And if Debbie still doesn’t get it, you don’t have to stay down with her. Spend your time with people who lift you up.

Here’s to making even the Debbies of this world happy!

Keep shining,

The Sunny Girl, Lauren Cook

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