Take the Trash to the Curb!

The trouble with trash…

Here in Southern California, we have trash day each week. Each city has a designated waste pick-up day in which these automated trucks come and empty our black cans (regular waste), green cans (yard waste), and blue cans (recyclables). Now the waste department doesn’t bear all of the responsibility for there is something we must do before the trucks arrive. We have the task of categorizing our trash. We must separate the aluminum, plastics, and papers and place them in the blue cans. We must ensure that the green cans ONLY have yard waste. Then, we must put all other garbage in the largest black cans. If we do this each week, we have effectively sorted the refuse. See where I’m going? 🙂

So after the refuse is sorted we take the final step to prepare the cans for pick-up. We take the trash to the curb in the front of our homes…far enough away that the stench and toxic nature of the garbage does not impact our environment. There it awaits the trucks’ arrival. The mechanical arm descends and the can is dumped into the refuse bin at the rear of the vehicle. Once the arm detects that the can is empty, it descends placing the empty can back in the same position at the curb.

Similarly, we face people and situations in life that we must sort, categorize, discard and take to the curb of our lives. Yes, it needed to be said. People can be toxic to our very existence. Ever been around someone so negative that you felt bad after you finished speaking with them or hanging out with them? You felt emotionally depressed for a reason. The toxicity of that person left its aroma in the realm of your heart-in the layers of your soul.

This isn’t as uncommon as some may think. Many people face this dilemma with loved ones…family members and close friends. This toxicity may consist of envy and the behaviors associated with a jealous personality. This person may always look for an opportunity to ‘knock you down a peg or two’ in the eyes of others. Toxic behaviors are also identifiable by a lack of support and constant negativity from those individuals who should be encouraging you as you ‘run your race’ in life.  When your good decisions are paying off and when your hard work is acknowledged by the right people should be a time of hopefulness in your life. If you are surrounded by individuals who refuse to support your decisions and always nag and make negative comments, then it detracts from your forward progress.

How can you evict this foolery from your life? By taking the trash to the curb. Then wait for the mechanical arm of life to dump the negativity and whisk away the stench and toxicity left by its presence. Finally wait for that descending mechanical arm of peace, love, and joy to empty your heart of the negative words, actions, and intentions of others. Heal your heart by keeping this person’s influence on the outskirts of your life. Don’t call on them for assistance; don’t ask them for their opinion and please don’t provide them with a front-row seat into your life as you are in pursuit of success. Minimize your activities with the negative Neds and naughty Nans in your life. In doing this, you are restoring your heart space and getting back to your original position and designed purpose.

Learn to separate friend from foe. However, let’s be clear as we are handling these individuals with a ‘long-handled spoon’. Just because someone is giving you sound advice that you do not agree with doesn’t make them toxic. Everyone needs sound counsel-even if one does not agree with the advice. I think you know the difference though…people who don’t smile when you are kind, or clap when you win are simply showing you how they feel about you and how they feel about themselves.

Do you know anyone like that? How do you handle this situation if it is a close family member? Please share below. 🙂