Morning Inspirations - Parasites Need Hosts

Some people love your help more than they love you—and the difference shows up in your energy, your calendar, and your peace. We dive into a blunt but freeing idea: every parasite needs a host. From family ties that never cut the cord to teammates who surf on your effort and partners who do the bare minimum, we map the patterns that turn care into extraction and show how to walk out with clarity.

We start by defining what “parasitic” behavior looks like in real life: adults who can contribute but won’t, coworkers who weaponize your kindness, and relationships where one person carries the load while the other clings. You’ll hear practical ways to set standards at work without losing your heart, how to separate love from rescuing at home, and simple diagnostics to tell whether someone is running beside you or riding on you. We talk timing, follow-through, and why parasites grip tighter when you finally pull away.

The goal isn’t hardness—it’s healthy bonds. Learn how to adapt with firm kindness, create consequences that inspire growth, and spot the early signs that a person is committed to change versus committed to comfort. If you’ve been dragging more than you’ve been walking, this conversation offers a path back to balance, respect, and partnerships that multiply energy instead of draining it.

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs stronger boundaries, and leave a quick review telling us where you’re choosing to run lighter.

Chapters

• 0:52 Morning Greeting And Purpose
• 1:08 Defining Parasites And Hosts
• 2:05 Family Dynamics And Dependency
• 3:25 Relationship And Workplace Parasites
• 5:20 Bare Minimum Behavior And Stagnation
• 6:26 Adapting And Detaching For Growth
• 7:19 Choose Partners Who Pull Their Weight
• 8:46 Recognize Early And Act Wisely
• 10:18 Close: Love, Learn, Know Your Circle

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:26

Good morning. And welcome to Coolin's Morning Inspirations. I'm Michael Terrell. And I like to do this every morning just to, you know, get everybody on a good start on something to think about. And today I wanted to talk to you guys about, you know, um, every parasite needs a host, right? And you know, I don't come at things in no negative light, but just more into a realist point of view on things sometimes. And when I say every parasite needs a host, it means in order for something that can't produce life for themselves, or they can't create money for themselves, they can't provide a life for themselves, you know, they have to depend on somebody else. A lot of times it's a kid depending on mama, and that kid grows up to become an adult, and that adult doesn't want to let go. After a certain point, that child becomes a parasite to its parents, and it'll suck the life out of their parents until life's not there no more, and once they're dead and gone, then they basically have to go to something else or somebody else, you know. Um, and you gotta watch out for those types of people because when you have those type of people, you think that they care about you, they you think that they love you, that you think that they have your best interest, but a lot of times it's not that they have your best interest, it's they have your best interest because they are feeding off of you, and whenever you have somebody that you can't disconnect from, and whenever you try to pull away, they try to double down. Think about it, right? Whenever somebody tries to take a parasite out of whatever, you know, whatever it is, it grips on tight because even though it is necessary to be disconnected, that parasite knows that if the parasite gets disconnected from its host, that parasite might not make it, you know what I'm saying, and so you have people that are in relationships with people that are parasites. You have people that if you're a people manager at a job, and you have somebody that you know you need to get rid of, but a lot of times they'll sit around and try to still be, you know, a part of you know whatever you got going on, and and make it like they're here to support any and everything that you got going on, but in all actuality, all they're trying to do is do just enough to make sure that you can stay flow so you can support, you know, uh in a business aspect, right? People that don't come to work on time, but they know that you're a nice boss, so you're not gonna do nothing about it, but you know that when they're not there, you're struggling, you know, or when they're doing things or taking from you or draining the clock, there's a lot of things that you could look at in a business aspect to where you could be like, you know, these people are parasites, they don't mean me no good. You have to know the difference, and you have to know the difference early on when you're in a relationship with somebody, when that person acts like they can't work or give you advice or give you structure or give you peace or give you whatever it is that you want to say, like if that person, like if you have a stay-at-home wife and she can't provide structure and and and comfort at at home, or if you got a a man that's supposed to be, you know, always working, but he's always playing 2K, like there's a lot of things, and then there's some that'll do the bare minimum, right? You got some people that do the bare minimum just to say that they're doing something, but they know that they could go harder, but they don't have to because they know that they can lean on you, and as long as they know that they can lean on you, they'll never grow as an individual. Because it's either you either make it or you don't, right? In this world, and and something that I try to tell people all the time is you know, I know this world can be a better place, but until then, you have to learn how to adapt to your environments, and a lot of times what people try to do to and to adapt to their environment is find a healthy host and hold on to them for dear life, and when they can become something other than a parasite, a lot of times they'll detach from you and move on to the next, or say they drain you out, feel that you have nothing else to give them, and then move on to the next. And like I said, this isn't just in one thing, this is in relationships, this is in your job, this is some of your family members, this is some of your friends, this is uh everyday, you can find it everywhere, and it's sad to say, but it's the truth, and so you have to make sure that when you're out here during the day, right? Find out who you can run side by side with, not someone who's trying to hold on to you, right? Because a lot of times, like let's let's put this into perspective, right? If you was running away from somebody, you would be cool if you died because you had to touch your kids or something, right? So that's a little bit understandable, but then you have it where you would really die, you was you would sacrifice your whole life to try to pull somebody that don't even want to run, and nothing's wrong with them. They just depend on you to pull them, and you know that death is behind you, right? That's that's crazy, and that's like in real life, really. You don't want nobody that's draining you dry. Because at the end of the day, once you're dry, I promise you, they're not there, they're gonna be gone. And then that's when the anger really settles in. Now you're really mad. So before all that, you know, it's easy just to recognize these things early. And once you recognize these things, play on it, don't wait around, don't think things are gonna get better. I meant, of course, don't do nothing prematurely, but if somebody shows you their true colors, I don't think that it would be too smart to stick around for years when every year is a blessing and you're not guaranteed it. So, you know, um learn, you know, love and laugh, man. That's what I say all the time. And know your friends, know your enemies. And if they're not your friends, at a blink of an eye, they can become your enemy. So, with that being said, thank you for listening to Coolin's Morning Inspirations. I'm out of the way.