Positive Thinking
Sep 13, 2021 4:38pm
Sometimes approaching life challenges with a positive manner can seem like the most difficult thing to do. After all, not everyone is an optimist who sees the glass half-full. The thing is, focusing on the good in any given situation can have a big impact on your physical and mental wellbeing. Unfortunately, adapting this attitude is no easy task.
So, what does it mean to think positively? It is a mental and emotional attitude that focuses on the positive, expecting positive results, and anticipating positive things such as good health, happiness, and success. This mindset is crucial in shaping your perspective, and therefore, your actions, because your thoughts affect your actions.
One of the keys to harnessing the power of positive thinking is to be the master of your emotions. One of the ways to achieve this is to build positive habits. Subconsciously or not, we all have habits that we return to on a daily basis. There are habits that bring positive effects in life, and there are habits that are unproductive. Our habits reflect on our quality of life. For instance, our health is a direct reflection of what we eat, how often we exercise, and the healthy habits we adapt. More often than not, we don’t realize that certain habits have negative impacts on our lives. That’s why keeping a journal can effectively make you recognize and decipher your habits into positive and negative. Building a positive daily routine can make you more productive. Productivity or a sense of accomplishment on a daily basis can help you build a more positive mindset when overcoming challenges.
Another important tool in building a positive mindset is to surround yourself with people who give you positive influence. They are the people who bring you up and leave you with a sense of wellness and not defeat.
However, it’s important to differentiate between positive thinking and toxic positivity. Essentially, toxic positivity is denial shrouded in optimism. Toxic positivity is ineffective because it dismisses and invalidates authentic emotional experiences. For instance, positivity has turned toxic when you dismiss feelings that are considered ‘negative’ by avoiding and hiding from uncomfortable feelings. It’s like telling someone who’s suffered a loss ‘Don’t be sad!’. Heartbreak, grief, sadness, depression, or fear are normal and genuine human experiences. It’s absolutely necessary to experience and process negative emotions. Running away from them is denial and is simply a temporary fix. Validate your own feelings, identify them, and process them in a healthy way.
Adapting a positive attitude doesn’t mean living in denial of the negative situations in life. It is an attitude to stay optimistic. Remember that we are our most productive self when we are feeling a sense of positivity on what we’re doing.