What you need to know about negativity bias
Never underestimate your ability to *choose* more happiness, positivity and hope
Nobody expects you to have a positive outlook all the time — we are all human and it is healthiest for us to openly acknowledge when life is unpleasant. However, it’s vital to know that, when it comes to happiness and positivity, we have factors (inside and out) that are working against us.
For instance, science shows that our brain is wired to notice and respond to negative stimuli far more effectively than it does to anything positive. We literally notice the bad, more than the good.
Of course, the media plays on this psychological disposition by flooding us with shocking, terrifying and negative news, while avoiding most of the wonderful developments happening around the world each day.
Nobody expects you to have a positive outlook all the time … however it’s wise to acknowlege the forces that are trying to keep you trapped in negativity; it’s in your best interests to recognise your brain’s innate appetite for negative stimuli, and society’s insatiable drive to feed it.
We each have a choice in life: we can become fully entrapped in a vortex of fear and despair, or we can actively — consciously, carefully — seek out, acknowledge and amplify all that’s good in the world and in our lives.
When we do so, research shows that we begin to balance the bad and the good — the pleasant and unpleasant, the frightening and uplifting — and increase our sense of happiness and wellbeing.
It’s up to us. Negativity bias is real, and it’s powerful. We can flow effortlessly down the mental drainpipe of negativity, or we can consciously turn our gaze toward the good around us and utilise our power to choose to more happiness, positivity and hope.
Kim Forrester is a mother, nature lover, global traveller, holistic wellbeing advocate and kindness enthusiast. As an award-winning author, educator and consultant, she combines cutting edge science with spiritual philosophy to inspire holistic wellbeing and fullness of living. Check out Kim’s podcast,Eudaemonia, to learn more about how to flourish in life.
