Fear and people with business of fear

Do you know fear is contagious? If you are to stay in faith, you must be careful what you read, what you listen to, and whom you talk to. Worry is contagious. Negativity is catching. If you're around people who are always complaining, discouraged, and downhearted, their low spirits can bring you down too.

Psychologists did a study in which they gave a group of people a mild electrical shock. Researchers measured their brainwaves from the time they heard they were to be shocked to the time it was over. What's interesting is they had another group in the room just watching. They measured their brainwaves as well. Even though they were not getting the shock, they experienced the same fears as those who did get jolted.

Just seeing fear in others can make us afraid, the researchers reported. A similar study found that we can catch each other's good and bad emotions just like we can catch a cold. This study at Harvard followed nearly five thousand people for more than twenty years. The researchers found that happy people pass on their good moods to others they didn't even know. And those good feelings can last as long as a year.

The same study found that unhappiness can be passed on, too, but that sort of "infection" seems to be weaker than the happy version. The scientists said that a friend's happy face has more positive influence on you than a $5,000 raise. The message is that even in tough economic times, hanging out with happy friends and family members can keep your spirits high.

So if your friends are constantly complaining, talking about how bad it is and how they will not make it, my advice is to stay clear of their doom and gloom. Find some new friends. Get rid of the bad-news bears. Their worry, their fear, their discouragement are contagious. If you stay around them long enough, there's a good chance you will catch what they have.

I know you love your friends. You don't have to be rude.

Don't go announce to them tomorrow morning: "Joel told me you're contagious, man. I'm staying away from you."

Please, be more tactful than that. And do me a favor. Don't use my name either.

You can be kind. You can be respectful. But gradually pull back and don't spend as much time with them and their dark moods. You shouldn't go to lunch every day with somebody who is always crying the blues and talking about how bad the economy is. You can't do that without it affecting you.

Maybe you can't always escape the doom-and gloom crowd. Maybe a coworker is like that and you don't have a way to avoid her. Perhaps you married someone with dark moods. If that's the case, God will give you the grace to overcome. Still, when you are around depressing Debbies and gloomy Guses, make sure you take heavy doses of faith, heavy doses of hope.

Keep a happy heart. ❤️