Stay Positive
Understanding positive thinking
Positive thinking doesn’t mean that you keep your head in the sand and ignore life’s less pleasant situations. Positive thinking just means that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive and productive way. You think the best is going to happen, not the worst.
Positive thinking often starts with self-talk. Self-talk is the endless stream of unspoken thoughts that run through your head. These automatic thoughts can be positive or negative. Some of your self-talk comes from logic and reason. Other self-talk may arise from misconceptions that you create because of lack of information.
If the thoughts that run through your head are mostly negative, your outlook on life is more likely pessimistic. If your thoughts are mostly positive, you’re likely an optimist — someone who practices positive thinking.
What is negative thinking?
Filtering. You magnify the negative aspects of a situation and filter out all of the positive ones.
Personalizing. When something bad occurs, you automatically blame yourself.
Catastrophizing. You automatically anticipate the worst.
Polarizing. You see things only as either good or bad. There is no middle ground. You feel that you have to be perfect or you’re a total failure.
Train your mind to see the good in every situation
How to improve the positive thinking?
Identify areas to change. If you want to become more optimistic and engage in more positive thinking, first identify areas of your life that you usually think negatively about, whether it’s work, your daily commute or a relationship.
Check yourself. Periodically during the day, stop and evaluate what you’re thinking. If you find that your thoughts are mainly negative, try to find a way to put a positive spin on them.
Be open to humor. Give yourself permission to smile or laugh, especially during difficult times. Seek humor in everyday happenings. When you can laugh at life, you feel less stressed.
Follow a healthy lifestyle. Aim to exercise for about 30 minutes on most days of the week. You can also break it up into 10-minute chunks of time during the day. Exercise can positively affect mood and reduce stress. Follow a healthy diet to fuel your mind and body.
Surround yourself with positive people. Make sure those in your life are positive, supportive people you can depend on to give helpful advice and feedback.
Practice positive self-talk. Start by following one simple rule: Don’t say anything to yourself that you wouldn’t say to anyone else. Be gentle and encouraging with yourself. If a negative thought enters your mind, evaluate it rationally and respond with affirmations of what is good about you. Think about things you’re thankful for in your life.
Always start your day positively
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
How you start your day usually sets the tone for the rest of your day. So be careful about how you spend your mornings, practice to start the day positively.
You might say that is not possible to anticipate a wonderful day, because you have a lot of problems. Okay, that might be true, but it doesn’t cost you money and you lose nothing, if despite you problems, you choose to anticipate a wonderful day upon waking up. For just a few minutes, imagine and feel that today is going to be a wonderful and a special day for you.
Also for a few minutes, focus on your blessings. Think about your family and children and about helpful friends. Think about your job, no matter what it is, and that it is helping you buy food and clothes, and support your family.
