Book- HAPPY ADULTS- the secret to lasting happiness, contentment and success.
HOW TO THINK POSITIVELY
- Focus on all that is good in your life and the world around you. Acknowledge the negative but don’t dwell on it. If you find your thoughts returning to the negative, rein them in and re-focus. This gets easier the more you do it.
- Focus on your attributes. You have much to offer. Acknowledge your failings and weaknesses but don’t dwell on them. None of us is perfect.
- Visualize positive outcomes. Research has shown that if you believe something will turn out well you increase the chances of it doing so.
- Think good of others. See the best in other people; give them the benefit of the doubt, don’t harbour grudges, forgive them and move on.
- Be grateful. Even the most disadvantaged of us has something to be grateful for. Recognize it and be thankful it is yours.
- Get rid of the belief that life owes you. It doesn’t. The only person who owes is you and you owe it to yourself to make the best of life.
To do this, you need to be aware of what is happening in your thoughts. During the day our thought processes vary to accommodate what we are doing: reading or studying, at work, being on the computer, watching television, listening to music, engaging in conversation, concentrating on a difficult task, relaxing, etc. Sometimes our thoughts will be wholly occupied by what we are doing, but at other times there is space for our thoughts to cruise or wander.
Be aware of your thoughts and deal with any negativity immediately. Don’t indulge this negativity; instead, acknowledge your feelings, and then let go of them and consciously shift your mind to a positive thought. By using this strategy of counteracting a negative thought with a positive thought you can retrain your mind.
You can find something positive in virtually every negative situation, even when the situation is dreadful. While you are retraining your mind to think positively there will be times when you slip into your old way of thinking. As soon as you catch yourself doing this, whether it is on waking, showering, eating, dressing, sitting on a train, playing with the children or at work, acknowledge your negative thoughts and make the next thought positive. It is important to acknowledge the negative thought: otherwise it can be buried without being dealt with and you can go into denial. All feelings are important, but negative thinkers focus on what is wrong in their lives to the exclusion of all that is right. If your mind returns to the negative, bring it back again to a positive thought.
The notion of positive thinking is not new, but when you discover its huge power and the possibilities it opens up for happiness and contentment it seems like a revelation. It is life changing!
TP = GF > GE
(where TP- think positively, GF- glass full, GE- glass empty)
Author- CATHY GLASS, 2012