If you’re reading this––Hi friend, yep same!
But let’s be real for a bit here. I woke up this morning and had a feeling this week won’t be as positive as last week. No clue why. Maybe a shift in routine, hormones, weather? I don’t know––it could be anything!
Whether you’re an anxious person or not––feeling negative is quite normal. There’s no shame attached to it. Neither does a method exist that magically makes the feeling disappear. Sadly, society is wired in a way to promote being positive and lead a productive and organized life at all times. While that is amazing and encouraging––we really haven’t learned to stop and explore the negative moments, thoughts and experiences.
Let’s say your favorite social media person starts sharing their day to day struggles, no filter added. Chances are, we interpret that in two ways (depending on our own state of mind):
a) Appreciate the transparency and feel great about not being alone.
b) Go “ughh why are they so negative all the time?”
Truth is we either look for relatability or Inspiration when looking at others. No idea if I’m right or wrong––but this is probably the reason we’re stuck in a circle. BUT how do we fix that?
From a non-expert/friend’s perspective––here are things that work for me (Spoiler alert: I haven’t found a permanent solution–– if you do, do let me know!!):
- Rewind and introspect––Ughh I know that sounds tedious. And trust me when I say my anxious/impatient mind thought the same. But the age old advice of “think before you can” isn’t that bad after all. This is particularly helpful when we have that cloud of negativity dominating the mind. And this is where I’ll move to #2.
- Journal––I wasn’t really into journalling. I mean my therapist made me do it, but I was doing it just because. It was not until I started going deeper and deeper into the world of manifesting/law of attraction/meditating etc, that the importance of visualizing my own thoughts stood out (thinking I should go more into this topic alone sometime!).
- Convert––this goes hand in hand with journaling and introspecting. But when you have a negative thought, write it down. Then (hits different if you do this with a different ink) scratch that and turn that into something positive. For instance, say your mind says “I’m so broke”. Convert that to: “I am on my way to abundance and this is merely a journey. I choose to preserve what I have for now.” Sounds a cliched but I promise it works!!
- Detach––from external trigger/sources. Even if it’s for a few minutes, you owe it to yourself. Think of it as turning down the music volume in order to focus on the road better. For some it can be meditation, for other it can simply be taking a shower or going out on a walk––the detachment is relative to the individual. For instance, I realized that staying off of social media for an entire day and/or taking a long hot shower help me tremendously!
- Escape––I KNOW it’s never right to escape from issues. And that’s not where I’m going. Well, for the most part. This is more about escaping to something you’ve assigned/allowed yourself to escape to. Maybe it’s a goal you’re working towards, a quote or affirmation your can start focusing on, or simply a vision board you’ve saved on Pinterest. Allow yourself to drift to that positive entity.
Before concluding this, I’d like to stress on the fact that these are not permanent solutions and I’m (again) no expert. This has helped alleviate negative thoughts, but the thoughts didn’t completely disappear. It’s important to allow ourselves to feel, and be aware of those feelings in the process. If these steps help, I’m for sure leaping in joy. Know that we are all in a journey––and enjoying the journey instead of focusing on the destination, will add so much more meaning to things.
Take care!
