5 Steps To Staying Positive

This week is off to a slow start for me. I woke up early, with my first alarm, but gave into the foreman of failure, as my dad call him (he read this in a book someplace), when he convinced me to take 2 more hours of sleep. That‘s approximately the length of time between my first alarm of the day and the next. Apparently, sleeping in is on switch for grogginess and lack of initiative. (Like I didn’t know this already. But honestly, if we did what we were supposed to do when we were supposed to, then life wouldn’t be SO INTERESTING. )

I’m sorry to sound so sarcastic, it’s just I feel like I way twice as much as usual. Apparently I’m growing a new tooth so now I can’t the right side of my jaw for anything (tooth aches are the worst) and I’ve had 2 and a half cold sores on the left side of my tongue for 3 days now, so I can just barely use the THAT side of my mouth as well. J So joyful right. Not to mention, I can feel the premonition of a sore throat, I feel thirsty constantly, my blood feels like molasses and I just want to SLEEP!

Clearly I’m sick, and I’m just being whiny. (Please bear with me). I actually wanted to do something positive with today’s article but I’m really not seeing the color in anything right now. Blogging is kind of therapeutic. And since I’m already feeling better, I’ve decided I won’t be negative. So, here are my tips on how to stay positive.

Birds of a feather flock together

I’m sure you’ve heard that saying before. And all of us at some point or other have been told to be careful of the company we keep. This is true in this case. Hang around negative people and you’ll be an admirable wet blanket yourself. Right up there with the best of them. Hang out with positive people and if that’s too cheerful for you, at least someone who’s not constantly complaining or feeling sorry for themselves. It really makes a difference.

Look on the brighter side

This should be easy. It’s hard to see anything in all that gloom. But why bother when it’s so brightly lit on the other side. Every cloud has a silver lining, so it’s rarely ever ALL bad. There is always something to be grateful for. You have all your limbs, no chronic or terminal illness, you have people who care about you, you crawled out of an actual bed…and the knowledge that there is probably someone out there who has got it waaaaay worse. That should be enough to help shake off the weight of negativity. Plus you are not dead. Enjoy the little things and Count your blessings!!

Be kind to yourself

Remember no nobody is perfect. So why keep setting high bars then beat yourself up for it when it doesn’t go smoothly. Remember, it you are struggling to achieve something it means you are growing, and that’s ALWAYS a positive thing. So be strict with yourself but don’t dwell on the failures. When you mess up, instead of thinking, ‘I’m so stupid!’ train yourself to think ‘what a bummer, I’ll have to try again/start afresh.’ (mucho Zen right? 🙂 ) Then if you’re really frustrated, take 5 and breathe, and calm down. Take a walk, do something else for a while and get centered again.

Work out

Really, it’s true. Exercise releases endorphins. It boosts your self-esteem and confidence because you are staying disciplined and losing weight and staying in shape. Your body can handle more stress put on it, and you’ll feel all round better. And remember how I said in a previous article about the rippling effect? How progress in one area bleeds into another. That’s how you will feel all round with this.

Take it as it comes

You know how they say that ’tis the curve balls I life that make life interesting. This is because nobody knows what the said curve-balls will bring your way. If we knew then the statement above would be useless. But this is true. In the words of Andre 3000, you can plan a pretty picnic, but you can’t predict the weather. And knowing how the only constant in life is change it only makes sense that we should prepare ourselves for it, yes?

And the best preparation is mental and psychological. Know and accept that things change. Acknowledge that you can’t control everything and accept it. And teach yourself to be flexible. Look at the positive of where you are at the moment and keep your spirits up when bad thing happen. Because like I’ve said, everything changes, so even when you get into a bad situation, know that even THAT will change.

For me, it’s my faith that keeps me covered when it comes to this step. I accept that things won’t always go my way and trust that God will see me through it. He is always in control, and I’m at peace because of it. So keep the faith people!! 🙂