Positivity

Do you ever feel like everything tends to fall on your all at once? Whether it be school, work or other responsibilities, maybe even all of them combined! Well, I definitely do, and I also often find myself looking at the worst in the situation that I have been put in. 

Someone recently reminded me that one's experience and attitude towards a situation is completely determined based upon their mindset going into it. In other words, if they go in thinking something is going to such, well odds are its going to suck! She reminded me how important it is to think of the good to come out of everything rather than to focus on the bad.

Once I actually took a minute to think about what she was saying I realized how true this really is for all situations. Taking this I decided to look at some more benefits that come with just simply having a positive attitude.

• Increased life span
• Lower rates of depression
• Lower levels of distress
• Greater resistance to the common cold
• Better psychological and physical well-being
• Reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
• Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

(mayoclinic.org)

With those outcomes I don't see what anyone could loose from trying to become more positive. However, I know it is easier said than done, and the first question I asked myself was "Where do I start?" So, I found a few simple ways to help us to achieve this optimistic mind set.

• Identify areas to change
• Check yourself
• Be open to humor 
• Follow a healthy lifestyle 
• Surround yourself with positive people 

Or even just something as easy as changing the way you talk/think!

Negative self-talk	Positive thinking
I've never done it before.	It's an opportunity to learn something new.
It's too complicated.	I'll tackle it from a different angle.
I don't have the resources.	Necessity is the mother of invention.
I'm too lazy to get this done.	I wasn't able to fit it into my schedule, but I can re-examine some priorities.
There's no way it will work.	I can try to make it work.
It's too radical a change.	Let's take a chance.
No one bothers to communicate with me.	I'll see if I can open the channels of communication.
I'm not going to get any better at this.	I'll give it another try.

(mayoclinic.org)

Hearing this one girls point of view, as inspired me to try and work on looking on situations, even the ones I dread the most, in a more positive light, and I challenge you to do the same! 

-Heidi