Inflaters and Deflaters

Throughout life, you will meet two types of people: inflaters and deflaters.

Inflaters are the people in your life who make you feel great, provide hope, cheer you up, inflate your self-esteem and lift you up. They are people who you want to spend time with, you value their opinions, and in turn they put a smile on your face. You walk away from an inflater in a buoyant mood.

Deflaters are the opposite; whether deliberately or unintentionally, they bring you down and make you, and others, feel bad about themselves. Not all deflaters are negative, but if you listen to their counsel too often, then you may find yourself in turn deflated.

If you know more inflaters than deflaters, then you may consider yourself fortunate. Listen and value those who inflate you. Keep them close.

Better yet, if you are an inflater yourself, then everyone wins. Your friends are fortunate due to the positive effect you have on their lives, and they leave you in a buoyant mood, inflated.

And if you continue to inflate people even after you have left their presence, either temporaily or permanantley, then that’s the best kind of inflater of all. You stay in their hearts and memories and continue to inflate them each day.

This blog post is dedicated to a friend who I value dearly and I owe recognition to Adam Hills for the content and inspiration.