I see fragments of myself in you. I admire your quest, even though we may clash at times; I see a person with great energy and independence. Remain steadfast on your earnest path. Have compassion and patience for those eager to compromise their soul for material and egoistic compensation.

"To climb to the top in a false world a person predictably loses their identity and integrity. only to find that winning may ultimately involve losing the most precious gift one has. Protect your spirit with your life... and listen profoundly to the quiet voice inside that reveals fragments of obscured wisdom and recognizes the subtle qualities of self in others. The ego reacts; the spirit responds--one to be transcended; one to be revealed."
~~carefulcarpenter

Oh, dear, I hope you didn't get that impression from what I posted.  On the contrary, in your position I would do exactly as you do, that is, seek out peaceful environments, and not just at work.

It wasn't anything to do with what you posted, otherwise I would have quoted you.  I was just thinking/writing outloud, regarding a related aspect of dealing with troublesome people that's been on my mind lately.

That's a really good way of looking at it. 

In the most extreme example, I've had a store manager make an ass out of herself trying to get a rise out of me... she stomped all around the store waving her arms and screaming at me.... and this in front of customers!!  I remained perfectly calm, much to her chagrin.  And once I got out of there, I laughed.  Had I never learned of impeccability, I guarantee that episode could easily have ruined my day, if not week or month.

Imagine if you had spoken something like "sorry people, she is with premenstrual syndrome"

"Wildfire sadness brings wildflower gladness"
~~carefulcarpenter
Keep a close look out for those rainbows!

Thats is the good side of it, thanks for the picture!

Me too!
The lizzies could not got me much directly by job like you, but they
got it indirectly and by other means...
Now I am tired about all that, what will be next ?
I do not think of "failure warrior" perspective, if the lesson is learned we do not
need take it again...

I know that in the Toltec way of being, these types are all considered Petty Tyrants, and PT's are supposed to be such a good thing, but I don't necessarily buy it.  I don't want to be around negative nasty people if I can help it, and won't work around it.  That makes me a failure as a "warrior" for refusing to try to strengthen my spiritual muscles against the tests they would be giving me, but oh well!  I spent 18 years being reared by petty tyrants, and another 10 years suffering under them at all the jobs I've had in 4 states, and now I'm just at a point where I'm like NO MORE.    I want to have a peaceful existence and work and live in nice, peaceful environments.   All these spiritual traditions are about rejecting the noise and chaos and craziness of the mainstream herd and their illusion, yet in the Toltec way of being, we're also supposed to purposely, deliberately place ourselves in the path of PT's and revel in their nutty behavior and what it can do for us?   I don't think so.  Kind of a contrast, in my opinion.   Although I have recently been getting to a point where when I am faced with negative nutty crazy types I'm just like, Uh, yeah.....you're the one with the issue here, not me, and it's not my problem.   So in a way, that is making progress, although I'm not able to do it all the time yet.

Oh, dear, I hope you didn't get that impression from what I posted.  On the contrary, in your position I would do exactly as you do, that is, seek out peaceful environments, and not just at work.

My situation is a lot different... I've been doing the job I do now for years and overall it suits me perfectly.  But it requires me to call on store accounts every week and that gives me the opportunity (lol!) to encounter some very interesting people.  I need their cooperation for less than a minute usually, but getting a minute of cooperation from some folks can be a challenge.

Most are nice, friendly and want to be cooperative... just like me... and the exchange is very pleasant.  But a few take the opportunity to "feed" if they can, and with those people, for me to show any annoyance at their rudeness or impatience in the face of their wasting my time is counterproductive.  If they succeed at making me react negatively, they "win" in a sense and they only get worse.  That's where my learning impeccability has come in so handy.  When I can be absolutely neutral emotionally and  patient and calm, I'm giving them nothing and they stop acting like jerks.  It works every time.

In the most extreme example, I've had a store manager make an ass out of herself trying to get a rise out of me... she stomped all around the store waving her arms and screaming at me.... and this in front of customers!!  I remained perfectly calm, much to her chagrin.  And once I got out of there, I laughed.  Had I never learned of impeccability, I guarantee that episode could easily have ruined my day, if not week or month.

In another case, a coffee shop assistant manager lost his job when he flipped out at me.  He called my corporate office and complained about me, said I said things I didn't say.  There was a meeting with his manager, who obviously had reviewed the video tape of the incident.  The manager was embarrassed beyond belief.  Assistant manager disappeared and I get free coffee in there to this day!!

When I was married had many cats, but one black was special as it acted like a dog!
His name was Juquinha
Always wanted to sleep with us, could not left the room window open or he came in, he
follow us around, come when called and sometimes when I was back from the work he was
at the door waiting for me.
I prefer dogs, had 2 rottweilers now dead, but miss that black cat.

That's what that woman Marsha (mentioned in my previous post) also said regarding black cats.  She said they're like dogs.  She was a dog person all the way, but the reason she loved her black cat so much was because it could play fetch and just behaved the way a dog does.  Cats are supposed to be "aloof," but not black cats.  They have all this life and energy to them, they love to play, they'll come running to you when you come home and wait by the door for you, etc. 

....wanted to say one more thing regarding dealing with the icky types in the corporate world, something I didn't expand on yesterday.   It's the fact that I am now extremely picky about what jobs I'm going to work at (through my temp agency) and if I find myself at a particularly icky job with icky people creating a negative environment, then I'll ask to be taken off the assignment.  Or, if I'm interviewing for an assignment and I'm noticing negative red flag indicators, I'll pass on it.   But in a nutshell, it's become all about realm compatibility.  I won't tolerate something negative anymore with negative people.  In fact last year when I was finishing up one assignment that to this day was the best job I've ever had, they wanted to find a way to keep me on with the company, but the only open available position was in human resources, filling in for a woman who was going on 3 month maternity leave.  I had no experience in HR but they were convinced they could get me trained.  Which under normal circmstances would be fine I guess.......but not in this particular case.  HR was down on the 2nd floor, and even though it was one floor away from the area where I was working, it was like being in a whole different company.  A negative "blah" environment, with some unhappy/stressed people working in that area, as opposed to the very peaceful, calm and pleasant environment with nice people on the third floor where I worked.  In fact one time I had to go down to HR to speak with this one woman, and I could hear her from down the hall, ranting and raving to her supervisor about all this stuff that was pissing her off.  The energy down there was extremely negative and charged up, and I stood there in the hall, waiting as she just went on and on, and finally I was like, I'm atta here!  And left.  Talk to her some other time, forget it.  She was also somebody who was short and brusque and very unfriendly on the phone.  Just not a happy woman.........But she would have been somebody I would have to be working along side in the event I took that temporary HR position.  !   No way, Jose.  So when they were talking to me, trying to convince me to take the assignment and do the crash course training, I was like, Thanks, I'm flattered that you want me to work here, but, it's just not for me.  Ducked out of that one, big time. 

The next assingment I was placed at was at a law firm with these bitter unhappy legal assistants who were prone to cussing and referring to all the clients (amongst themselves) that they didn't like as idiots, bitches, morons, retards, assholes, and so on.  And they weren't nice to me, although the issue was mostly with one legal assistant in particular.  Dropped that assignment, see ya!  No way, Jose!    In fact, had I not been working through a temp agency, then the final straw that drove me out of there would have resulted in a physical altercation, THAT'S how pissed the one legal assistant got me.   I had to sit there in my chair, fuming, trying to cool off, but what I really wanted to do...and would have had I not been there as a representative of my temp agency....was get up, go to her office, and throw the files that I was working on for her at her.  Literally, throw them AT her, and then verbally rip her a new one.  And then walk out.  I was SO angry, the angriest I'd been in a long time.  Instead I called my temp agency, and was like, GET ME OUT OF HERE *NOW.*   The next assignemnt was a rural Baptist Church, surrounded by Virginia countryside, and complete with an old cemetery.  Much nicer environment!  (although I'm not religious.  It was still nice, compared to the typical soulless corporate environment.)

I know that in the Toltec way of being, these types are all considered Petty Tyrants, and PT's are supposed to be such a good thing, but I don't necessarily buy it.  I don't want to be around negative nasty people if I can help it, and won't work around it.  That makes me a failure as a "warrior" for refusing to try to strengthen my spiritual muscles against the tests they would be giving me, but oh well!  I spent 18 years being reared by petty tyrants, and another 10 years suffering under them at all the jobs I've had in 4 states, and now I'm just at a point where I'm like NO MORE.    I want to have a peaceful existence and work and live in nice, peaceful environments.   All these spiritual traditions are about rejecting the noise and chaos and craziness of the mainstream herd and their illusion, yet in the Toltec way of being, we're also supposed to purposely, deliberately place ourselves in the path of PT's and revel in their nutty behavior and what it can do for us?   I don't think so.  Kind of a contrast, in my opinion.   Although I have recently been getting to a point where when I am faced with negative nutty crazy types I'm just like, Uh, yeah.....you're the one with the issue here, not me, and it's not my problem.   So in a way, that is making progress, although I'm not able to do it all the time yet. 

Anyway, random thoughts!

I need to be more vigilant, have more faith and do not consider much my
logical mind who says “Oh God there is no escape" and listen more to the other
part who says "Don't worry be happy".

"Wildfire sadness brings wildflower gladness"
~~carefulcarpenter

Keep a close look out for those rainbows!

Soon after she noticed a pic on my computer of my kitty (who's all black) and we bonded over that because she used to have a beloved black cat too, who had died a few years back.  She was a dog person, but she said there is something about the breed of black cats that is different, and she just LOVED that cat.

When I was married had many cats, but one black was special as it acted like a dog!
His name was Juquinha
Always wanted to sleep with us, could not left the room window open or he came in, he
follow us around, come when called and sometimes when I was back from the work he was
at the door waiting for me.
I prefer dogs, had 2 rottweilers now dead, but miss that black cat.

After the salmon nobody doubt that

One of the cats was physically  like your Teddy , but he did a very strange
thing for a cat, was using the toilet!!
He was a peace  lover and the laziest of all, only wanted to sleep inside a box above the refrigerator, he
came from the neighborhood and adopted us.

Now about the 'Transmuting negative feelings towards troublesome people'
The difficult part is because the first feeling is to kill the bastard, when the trick is
not to fall into his energy vibe and counter act with intelligence and  love.
Basicaly we may say it is the same principle when the situation is bad
like 'Daniel in the lions den', but we need to keep the vibes high...
So difficult but no impossible...
I need to be more vigilant, have more faith and do not consider much my
logical mind who says “Oh God there is no escape" and listen more to the other
part who says "Don't worry be happy".

Here is a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don't worry be happy
In every life we have some trouble
When you worry you make it double
Don't worry, be happy......

Ain't got no place to lay your head
Somebody came and took your bed
Don't worry, be happy
The land lord say your rent is late
He may have to litigate
Don't worry, be happy
Lood at me I am happy
Don't worry, be happy
Here I give you my phone number
When you worry call me
I make you happy
Don't worry, be happy
Ain't got no cash, ain't got no style
Ain't got not girl to make you smile
But don't worry be happy
Cause when you worry
Your face will frown
And that will bring everybody down
So don't worry, be happy (now).....

There is this little song I wrote
I hope you learn it note for note
Like good little children
Don't worry, be happy
Listen to what I say
In your life expect some trouble
But when you worry
You make it double
Don't worry, be happy......
Don't worry don't do it, be happy
Put a smile on your face
Don't bring everybody down like this
Don't worry, it will soon past
Whatever it is
Don't worry, be happy

Don't Worry Be Happy – By Bobby McFerrin

This is from:
http://www.trufax.org/observer.html

Too funny....I haven't been over here for a few days, been working like a mad dog (to make up for my massive procrastination recently!)  Then last night or this morning I was thinking, "I wonder how Lyra manages to deal with all the icky people she's surrounded by in the corporate world?  I'd love to learn how she does it!"  And then I find that great post here!

Wow...what a trip!  I wonder if you made me create this thread then!   Something working backwards in time, get me to start this thread yesterday morning.  It's weird because I was going to create this thread several weeks ago and for some reason just...didn't.  Until yesterday morning.  More Noble Realms synchs!

This definitely is the case with animals - they're very telepathic, cats especially.  But one time I was reading a book down by the brook where we live and this dog (brown and white, looked like a beagle mix) came running down the trail and over to the edge of the rocks where I was sitting and began growling low at me, like challenging me. "Who are you???  I'm the boss here!"   His owner (or "people companion" as politically correct animal activists like to call it nowadays   ) was up the trail, lagging behind.  So, I'm sitting there looking at this growling dog - I knew he wouldn't attack me, but I was still a little nervous.  Realized I could switch gears though and change the situation - mentally said "Hi!" to the dog.  Then said, "Look at you....you're so cute!"   Then I watched the dog change expressions, and go from growling and "posturing" to all of a sudden bounding across the rocks for me and literally, throwing himself at me, all excited, slurping at my face, trying to get in my lap and be pet!!  It was crazy, but cool. 

But yeah, there's not a day that goes by where I don't tell my kitty "You're so cute!  You're so sweet!  You're so pretty!"   Like, 50 times a day, I'm not even kidding!     I'm always either telling her or thinking to her what a little sweetie cutie she is, and what a good cat she is.  Not even to try to consciously "rewire" her, it's just because I can't help it, that's what I think.  And she hears it, loud and clear, and is very loving and affectionate as a result.   She totally reads my mind though, there's so many stories I have, but, topic for another thread I guess.   But yeah, I do this with all animals that I come across, I just love critters and think they're all so cute.....to the point where I even now think bugs are cute.   So when one comes around I eminate something really strong that they pick up on.

All in all I totally agree that this tactic could definitely be the magic pill for dealing with troublesome people.  The ones who ARE human, but just damaged, like you said. 

btw, the picture is cute! 

I just wanted to jump in on the discussion to say that you can do some of the same stuff you're talking about with animals.  They might even be more receptive in some ways, since if they're a pet, there's already an implied, loving relationship going on.

But we have a cat we've had to work with quite a lot.  Initially, as a stray, he came to our place riddled with the usual entities (animals pick up a lot of stuff, especially if people have been mean to them and dumped their crap on them.)  So we did a lot of cleansing and prayer work on his behavior to get him stabilized.

But being the fifth male in an eight cat household (we live on a farm, so the cats are all indoor/outdoor) wasn't easy. Teddy expressed a lot of aggression as he was trying to work out his place here, which is normal with males.  Still, there were times when it was like something came over him and he'd go from squzzy lovey warm friendly happy puss to MUST ATTACK THE KITTENS NOW!  MUST EAT THEM!  MUST BEAT THEM!

And he still does this from time to time, although it's gotten a lot better after two years.

We started working with telling him "You're a good puss," whenever he was about to act out or even after he acted out.  To retrain the response flow.  Giving him encouragement and love about his essential good puss-ness. 

Well, we found this has been a bit of a magic bullet. Tell him, "You're a good puss," while beaming out some love at him, and suddenly he wants nothing more than to have his belly rubbed. And he'll act like the most mellow lap cat you've ever seen.

Teddy is one tough cat, too, muscular, bulky, big.  So to watch this transformation once we started consciously making the effort to tell him he's a good puss has been cool. It's like his self-esteem wiring was all off, but by healing that circuit by reaffirming his goodness, he feels self-love again, and has less need to beat up on the other pusses because he's feeling about himself.

Might the same technique work on the humans?  Maybe. On some of them, probably.  Like, the ones that ARE human and simply damaged.

So, the mantra is, "You're a good puss (person) plus a little love beaming out of your heart at them.  See what happens.

Not easy to do, of course, in all situations, and not recommended for when you're truly being threatened.

Here's Teddy channeling his grumpy self. (Let me see if I can get this image formatted properly. I've never posted one before.)

Yay! I did it!  Woo-hoo!

LipstickMystic aka Jennifer

On a side note....I've had experiences at work where I've stood up to someone because they were treating me like crap, either because of my relatively shocking outward appearance or reputation as the "spiritual" guy in a highly atheistic work environment.  When I stopped taking shit from them they actually would treat me better, like I was one of the "guys".  It was almost some kind of macho bullshit test.  It's like you subtly let them know that you're gonna have any of it any they have no choice BUT to either try a new tactic or give up altogether and just accept you.

It definitely seems true that it wouldn't work for everybody, that was something I was thinking about yesterday afternoon after I made my post.  When dealing with anybody it's just a matter of feeling out what the situation is.   There are those very obvious psychic vampire, slick manipulator game playing head trip types and with them, I have NO tolerance for it.   I will just extricate myself from the situation.  Being hostile wouldn't work, that just encourages them and feeds into something.  And feeling amped up feelings of positiveness would probably just sink into their black hole oblivion.  Not everybody is "all there" to put it delicately, and so certain tactics wouldn't work, and with them, it's best to just get away.  Some people just need a verbal shove, for whatever reason, and I've experienced the bully types, like what Poffo described:

This one woman named Marsha that I uesd to work with back in Florida was the big gruff curmudgeony New Yorker who for whatever reason, did not like me when I first started working at that company.  I later learned it was because one time, back when I first started, she had come into my office to ask me something, and I continued to type while talking to her.  Yes, my big offense was that I can actually multi-task, and was so busy that I continued to work on my word processing document while also talking to her, instead of stopping and giving her my FULL and COMPLETE attention.   After that she was just SO rude and obnoxious to me, couldn't talk to me without verbally pushing me around in some way.  Became a real bully, and I'd go home at night, stewing over her, like, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.    To make matters worse, the whole thing became REALLY confusing only because I could intuitively "feel" that she was real, and that she wasn't a bad person at the core!   So, that inner/outerer contrast was only compounding the weirdness of the situation.   And finally one day it came to a head, and she was being extra rude and bully-ish to me, and I don't remember exactly what I said, but I snapped.   Bit her head off right back at her, like WHAT is your problem??   blah blah blah blah blah!    I don't remember what exactly I said, but I do remember the look of shock on her face - and there was emotion behind it.  And after that, she was nice to me, and I could see/feel that she felt bad about it all.

Soon after she noticed a pic on my computer of my kitty (who's all black) and we bonded over that because she used to have a beloved black cat too, who had died a few years back.  She was a dog person, but she said there is something about the breed of black cats that is different, and she just LOVED that cat.  She'd get watery eyed talking about her kitty and would be like "Okay, okay, I have to stop talking about it now, it's gonna make me cry...."  So, we bonded over black cats, trading stories about all the cool and cute things our respective black cats would do.   And she came in one day with a basket that had goodies for my cat.  Some toys, food treats, and this awesome porcelain bowl that had a black cat on it....which is my cat's water bowl to this day.     So yeah, that situation did a total 180, but only after I stood up to the bully.  She wasn't really a bully though, she just had a gruff and crusty exterior, probably due to events in her life.  I do know that she was mugged once in a parking garage, fought back against the guy trying to nab her purse and wound up getting shot.....twice.   And obviously lived.   So, she was a tough woman with a crusty exterior, but nice at the core.

Conversely, at this same job I also worked with another bully woman named Calla.............but she was a whole other ball of wax.   While Marsha was real, and just falling victim to her inner predator, Calla was just a messed up head case.   She wasn't all there mentally, and probably soul wise as well, and it seemed like stuff was jumping in and out of her, and her behavior and personality were erratic and unstable.  She'd take her cell phone and go outside and hide in the bushes while talking, and was a space case who couldn't retain information, and just carried on like a weirdo in general.   She started working there after I started, but despite my "6 month seniority"   felt that because I was about 15 years younger than her, and looked so young on top of it, that I'd be an easy target to push around.  X!  Think again.  There were minor incidents here and there with her, which I had complained about to my supervisor Suzanne, but nothing was being done to remedy the situation.  But then, there was this one incident with Calla where it was like something jumped into her and antagonized me, and the results became the stuff of office gossip for weeks afterwards.   I don't remember offhand what she said to me, but it was the gleam in her eye when she said it and the smirk........THAT'S what threw me over the edge.  Calla didn't know that Suzanne had overheard her, and when Suzanne emerged from behind a cubicle with this look on her face like "WTF??" I turned to her and said, "Did you hear what she said???  Did you hear what she just said to me??!?"   Suzanne nodded, frowning, and I said, "THAT'S it....." and I took off down the hall after Calla, found her in her office, and was yet like, ROOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWRRRRRR!   Chewed her out.   Did it work though?  No, actually, not really.  She stopped only because Suzanne told her to stop, but she herself felt no change, and would periodically slip back up again, trying to push me around, saying things with a weird glint in her eye and smirk.   Nothing quite as bad as that one incident, but what I got was that IF she could have gotten away with treating me like dirt in full force, she totally would have, and nothing I could have said or done would have stopped her, and the only reason she wasn't carrying on in full form was because whatever was piloting her knew that she would get in trouble from my supervisors, maybe even fired.  That was the only motivation to not act in full form.  (And I say "piloting"  because of her erratic personality and crazy behavior and that weird glint she'd get in her eye, which I've seen before, with people who have other "stuff" piloting them.)

ANYway, two examples of a bully personality that resulted in a "verbal shove back" confrontation; one bully who was real and felt emotion and remourse for their bad behavior and changed as a result, and the other who was not, and had some kind of crazy who knows what going on that was unredeemable.   With Calla I could read her from day 1 and knew that it wouldn't change, so I just avoided her.   There was nothing that could be said or done to a person who's not in full control of themselves and the best thing is to just walk away.  In retrospect, I also should have/could have put up psychic blocks against her, to keep her at bay, but I didn't, because that's the only thing that's really going to work with somebody who's being piloted.

Yeah, that's what really got me, just as much as the backstory about Lynn was the reaction of this waitress when telling the story....the fact that she was so cold about it all and found it amusing.  There is a world of people out there like that, and it's really disturbing.   

I think we need to review what the definition of "petty tyrant" is, because your example is not it. !!

"The petty tyrant is like the irritating kid down the street that has lost their puppy and is affraid to go home for fear their dad will blame them for being small and stupid. Assist them by easing their pain and in so doing you will also find a precious new friend to play with your inner child"
~~carefulcarpenter

Well, I give you an "A" for effort, titmouse... That is one twisted 'example' of a petty tyrant... Is this another attempt to try and prove a point through abstract example?