(originally posted on Medium)

People who are negative tend to want to demean people’s ideas. They say what they don’t like, but they don’t really say what they want to do. And it’s very hard to have ideas. It’s very hard to put yourself out there. It’s very hard to be vulnerable. But those people are the dreamers and the thinkers and the creators. They’re the magic people of the world. So strive to be one of those.

Today I learned that Amy Poehler has a YouTube series called Smart Girls(described as ”a place for funny, thoughtful and deceivingly educational programming.”) Who knew?

In this segment on Negativity (where the quote above is from), she eloquently sums up something I’ve long found to be incredibly frustrating — people who are quick to criticize someone else’s ideas but offer nothing in the form of alternative solution.

It sounds obvious but sadly this is a quality that is very much not limited to teenagers. When debating ideas, make the extra effort to try and push those ideas to a better place instead of just trying to cut them down.