Miserable haters tote with them a huge problem.

One, they don't want anyone around them to surpass them in terms of success.

On the second hand, they are not ambitious to achieve much out of life.

So here's the problem. They are mad at and hate on pretty much a large number of people. They hate to see success. They hate how it intimidates them.

They prefer to be mediocre, and for them to feel better, they want you to be further beneath their level of mediocrity.

If you are in their space, I "hate" it for you (no pun intended).

These people feel better about themselves when you feel worse about yourself. That's how they are able to cope with their own failures and fear to be greater than our ancestry.

They find every conceivable flaw in any of your successes. They plant negative seeds in the minds of others about you. In many cases, the miserable hater is simply unable to be happy for those they know and only able to praise and influence people who are not in their circle of socio-economic influence.

They outwardly call themselves Christians but pray a silent daily (sometimes hourly) prayer against your success.

prayer doesn't sound like this, "God please make sure Mary fails at her business. I don't want her to get all the attention and prestige."

It will sound like this, "Lord, you know Mary has a husband and 4 children. Only you know if starting a business is good for her but in my opinion her home will suffer.

Find a way for her to realize that right now business ownership may not be in her best interest."

Here is the light at the end of the tunnel.

God is no fool! What is for you, will become yours.

So when you allow the miserable hater to speak failure into you and you buy it, you ultimately tell God you are more willing to listen to the Miserable Hater rather than Him. So what do we do?

1. We ignore the fools. We understand that they will be around, but we ignore what they are trying to do.

2. Guard our intentions. Don't allow them access to your blueprint. The minute they know what you are trying to do is when they know how to attack it. I always say that my success will be like cockroaches.

By the time you realize one exists, a colony will have already formed.

3. We let them chase their tails. They will come around snooping for information about your next steps in life. Just point them in the opposite direction from the road you plan on traveling.

If you have plans on going to Law School, tell them you just applied for a part-time job.

4. Pray for them. Pray that they find their destiny and go full-throttle towards it. This is self-explanatory.

5. Avoid them. Keep their spirit away from yours. If you have no choice but to mingle with them, make sure you take a faith shower every time you leave from them.

Haters typically have low self-esteem about themselves and low expectations of themselves.

Their problems are more psychological than physical. When I started writing this week's column, I only expected to write a few short lines.

Now look what you made me do! Obviously the Miserable Hater problem is a deeper issue than I set out to explain.

However, no matter how deep their hate runs, your reach is much further.

St. Thomas native Devin "Dutchie" Robinson is a six-time author and columnist. He can be reached at www.devinrobinson.com.