\u201cThink positive!\u201d is a phrase a lot of people say. But it\u2019s really hard to do that under all the stress and anxiety that comes with our everyday life. There are just too many things to worry about \u2013 jobs, money, health, relationships, etc.<\/p>\n
Even if you don\u2019t have depression, sometimes it feels nearly impossible to keep negative thoughts at bay. But it is possible to do that. Nobody deserves to feel tired, frustrated, stressed or depressed all the time.<\/p>\n
I used to have a lot of negative thoughts too. It was a dark part of my life. Every single day felt pointless and I kept wondering why I bothered.<\/p>\n
But eventually, I learnt how to deal with them. Now, I will show you how to stop the relentless negativity. This is a guide to bringing back a little positivity into your life. Please keep reading to learn how you can uplift yourself and keep all those negative thoughts at bay.<\/p>\n
The simplest way to keep negative thoughts at bay is to stop fighting them. A plant that struggles against the wind suffers. But a leaf or seed that floats with the wind is taken on a journey towards new things.<\/p>\n
Acknowledge that the negative thoughts are simply thoughts. They are not reality. Thoughts only have as much power as you give them. My actual negative thoughts did not matter, only the fact that I believed them.<\/p>\n
The first step to managing negative thoughts is acceptance. Some things just happen in life. It is a natural part of living. We are not in control of every single aspect of our lives. We should just enjoy the ride through time as much as we can.<\/p>\n
Once you can accept the fact that negative thoughts do not control your life, you can move on to brighter things.<\/p>\n
Mindfulness is about reality. It is about focusing on the moment that is right now. Forget about bygone memories from the past or the endless possibilities in the future.<\/p>\n
You might have a thousand different worries and thoughts in your mind right now. That\u2019s perfectly normal. Our daily lives are very complex these days. It is hard to find the time to step back and take a break.<\/p>\n
If you can somehow manage that time, then mindfulness and meditation will help you keep negative thoughts at bay. You can read my article on Meditation and Mindfulness to learn more about this.<\/p>\n
People who live healthy, active lifestyles are generally happier. They are not as affected by negative thoughts. There is both a simple and a scientific explanation for this.<\/p>\n
The simple explanation is that when you are active, you are focused on what you are doing right now. If you are working out or playing a sport, you will be focused on the moment rather than future worries.<\/p>\n
Being healthy means you feel better about yourself. You\u2019re more likely to get negative thoughts if you are tired, sleepy or sick.<\/p>\n
When I was at my low point, one of the things I did was start working out regularly. It was hard to find the motivation at first, but eventually, things got better.<\/p>\n
What about the scientific part? Well, mental and physical well-being are interdependent. When we exercise, our bodies produce a chemical called dopamine. Dopamine is basically what makes us feel happy or satisfied. When your body is producing dopamine, you can keep negative thoughts at bay easily.<\/p>\n
The people we hang out with can affect our mental state as well.<\/p>\n
There are some people who are overly critical of others. If you hang around them, they could destroy your confidence and make you feel worse about yourself.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, staying around positive people who encourage you to do your best has the opposite effect. Positive reinforcement can build up your confidence and dispel doubts. If you are having negative thoughts, friends and family can uplift you out of them!<\/p>\n
It does not have to be just friends and family. You could also reach out and talk to a therapist about your issues. A good therapist understands anxiety and depression and can give you encouragement.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s all we need, sometimes. A lot of the negative thoughts I had were doubts. I kept doubting my abilities and whether I would be successful or not. But after getting encouragement, my doubts disappeared and I decided to try, no matter what!<\/p>\n
Remember, you don\u2019t have to fight the negativity alone. Your friends, family and loved ones can be right there helping you keep negative thoughts at bay. Just reach out to them.<\/p>\n
There are communities out there that are focused on a positive outlook on life. Whether it\u2019s by sharing news of positive and uplifting things, or by simple encouragements.<\/p>\n
Even a picture of a big-eyed puppy in the morning could brighten your day!<\/p>\n
Just remember to steer clear of sources of stress. Do not open your email first thing, or else you will start stressing and worrying about work. Do not check the news, because sensationalizes various bad things in order to get views. Don\u2019t go on social media, since it can be toxic and rewards envy and outrage more than positivity.<\/p>\n
There used to be a lot of negative influences in my life \u2013 from some so-called friends and from social media. To keep negative thoughts at bay, I decided to cut myself off from them. It really improved my outlook and gave me time and space to work on myself and beat the negativity.<\/p>\n
Having negative thoughts is natural. We are not perfect and have a lot of doubts or worries. However, our lives are so complicated these days that it\u2019s almost impossible to go anywhere without negative thoughts trying to overwhelm us.<\/p>\n
I can tell you that they are beatable. You can keep negative thoughts at bay Even if everything feels down right now, you can work your way towards the light. Just take this guide to heart and everything will be alright.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\t\t\t\tMany years ago, I worked for my parents who own a video production company. Because it is a family business, you inevitably end up wearing many hats and being the czar of many different jobs. I mainly managed projects and worked as a video editor. On production, there were times that I was called on to work as an audio tech and was made to wear headphones on long production days. In those days, having a really good set of headphones that picked up every nuance of sound was essential to making sure the client got what they needed.\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,34],"tags":[61,99,100,105],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myultimateliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4233"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myultimateliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myultimateliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myultimateliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myultimateliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4233"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/myultimateliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21270,"href":"https:\/\/myultimateliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4233\/revisions\/21270"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myultimateliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myultimateliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myultimateliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myultimateliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}