Negativity and Positivity
Positivity and negativity: the true, realistic outlook on life
Negativity is normal. But, like everything, to an extent. You don’t feel the effects at first, but they most definitely are there, or they will be soon. It’s hard to imagine but your mindset doesn’t only affect your brain, but your entire self — not to mention the people around you.
Before you become annoyed with me telling you what to do, understand that it’s easy to become irritated and keep being unhappy, but it will do irreparable damage. Sometimes, we have to admit we need to change. Once you admit that, you can begin to undo the years of harm that negative-self talk has done to you and look forward to a happier life.
Positivity = good?
People say it’s good to be positive a lot, but are there even benefits or are we just supposed to be happy for the sake of being happy? Like, what’s even the point? Well, it’s actually great for your health and quality of life. According to a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at New York University, positive thinking improves your mood, physical health, energy level, concentration, resiliency, productivity and more. Clearly, it’s worth something to have some optimism in your life.
How to actually be positive
Unfortunately, being more positive isn’t an overnight change. You probably won’t immediately wake up and be able to see a ‘silver lining’ in everything. That’s alright; it takes time. But there are still many small things you can do to help yourself improve.
Spending time with positive people is one of the best ways to improve your mindset. They can quickly spread their attitude to you, lifting up your self-esteem and helping you to feel more optimistic about pretty much everything.
Another method of becoming more positive is being nice to other people. Actually, a 2016 found out that performing acts of kindness made people happier than treating themselves. So even something as simple as saying ‘bless you’ to someone when they sneeze can contribute to improving your mindset.
But by far, one of the most important things in building up a better outlook on life is by changing the way you speak to yourself. We’re usually very harsh with ourselves and put ourselves down more than anyone else. It may not seem dangerous at first, but it can actually affect your ability to regulate your emotions, work under pressure and severely worsen your self-esteem and confidence.
To stop this, you have to focus on what you say to yourself, and shift it to a more positive version. So no more saying ‘I hate myself’ or ‘I’m so dumb’. Instead of beating yourself down, be nicer! You’re (hopefully) nice to other people so you should be nice to yourself too. Say things like ‘I’ll try harder next time’ and ‘it’s just a mistake.’
Best of both worlds?
It’s really quite good to have positivity in your life, but that definitely doesn’t mean you should pretend to be happy all the time and block out any and all negativity. A healthy amount of pessimism can be good for you. According to a professor of psychology, Julie Norem, negative emotions like anxiety can motivate you to act as well as address the actual reason why you’re feeling bad. Studies have also shown it can improve your mental accuracy.
In seeing that there are benefits and drawbacks to both negativity and positivity, we should all aim to understand that the best way to go is with balance. Nothing is black and white, and that extends to the way you look at life.
Sources: https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-think-positive#tips
