Life needs to be balanced with the positive and negative aspects to it. But, being positive makes you continue working towards your goals. And, the negative aspect which is sometimes, "reality", makes you stronger. But, one should never let the negative value weigh more than the positive value.
And, this is why I agree with this;
Something I work very hard on doing is limiting the hold negativity, (things, events, people and places, thoughts, and attitudes), has on me.
I have to give myself that much because no one is coming for me.
I am glad you are moving farther away from such a person. We need to be careful about how we all negative people into our lives it dampens our soul when it is too much to bear. Especially in situations where we need positivity around us.
The negative aspects of life help us to appreciate the positive aspects, or it should I think. Both are going to happen though, either way, so it's best to learn how to deal with it, and mitigate the negative where possible.
That's why I termed the negative aspect as "reality". It helps value the presence of positivity just like you made mentioned.
And, I do agree we should learn to deal with it.