Don't Negate The Negative

I am a massive advocate of positive thinking - so much so that I’m writing a book that I hope will help millions of people! But just like everyone else in times of uncertainty I struggle maintaining a positive outlook. I pick up on others negativity, social media becomes endemic with negativity and hate, and there just seems to be a really heavy atmosphere because everyone’s lives are being turned upside down. Holiday plans are out of the window, education is scuppered, parties and weddings are postponed and people are living in fear!

See what I mean, the negative thoughts come creeping in so easily.

But this is actually a good thing…to a point and I’ll expand on this in a moment.

Everything has an opposite - it has to. You can’t have light without the dark. You can’t have peace without disturbance. You can’t have good without evil. You can’t have night with out day. You can’t have wet without dry…and so on. The trick is remembering this and by doing so acknowledging that it may well happen! Remember though acknowledgement isn’t about dwelling on it!

Whatever you focus on ultimately becomes a reality; so if you keep focussing on negative things then that’s what you’re going to get. Even a phrase that starts with “I don’t” is classed as a negative. Let me explain. If you say “I don’t want to be fat.” Or “I don’t want to be in debt.” Or “I don’t want to be single.” What actually happens is the negative word “don’t” actually gets ignored and what you’re actually saying is “I want to be fat, in debt and single”. If you can turn that phrase into a positive one then it becomes more powerful. “I easily maintain a healthy weight”, “I enjoy financial stability”, “I am in a loving relationship” even though you may not be experiencing these things right this minute, but stating you are welcoming it to become a reality.

If you can maintain positive thoughts and a positive intention, no matter what gets thrown at you, you’ll get positive results. Positive thoughts manifest positive results. Things will happen to test your resolve. Other people’s opinions or experiences may try and colour your belief. Responding positively is the way forward.

To bring me back to my first statement that negative thoughts are a good thing; without them we become a wishy washy cypher, an android devoid of emotion. Emotions are fantastic! We are so lucky to be able to experience such a wide range of emotions - it’s what makes us human! We need emotions to feel, create, respond and give us meaning. The time that negative emotions become “dangerous” is when they spiral out of control and when they’re dwelled on and wallowed in. Once you put your focus on negative emotions the energy changes as does everything else and you feel you’re in a vortex going down a plughole.

How do you stop this from happening? Respond appropriately - allow the emotion to surface - acknowledge it and then let it go as soon as you can to return to the positive thoughts.