3 Tips for Positive Thinking
Positive thinking is a term easily overlooked as life seems to pile itself on top of us. However, when you can truly incorporate positive thinking into your mindset, you’ll notice big changes in your life (positive changes, of course!). As most words of wisdom seem to roll; most things are much easier said than done. It takes purpose and practice to change any aspect in our lives. Below are some ways to help you work on incorporating true positive thinking in your life; there are many more ways to help with this, these are merely 3.
1. Think “Big Picture”
It’s important to remember everyone is living their lives along next to you. We all struggle. We all celebrate. We don’t see other people’s trials as pertinently as our own, but trying to remember that millions of other people live on this same planet can be an oddly comforting and grounding thought at times. Remembering that in the end we’re all doing the same thing makes positive thinking attainable.
It’s easy to get caught in the “now” when stressors come up in our life. Hyper-focusing on a specific issue causes extra stress and anxiety, tangling us in panic mode and often losing sight of the big picture. This moment can’t last forever. You’ll be onto the next, more enjoyable moment, soon enough.
“Why am I always running late? Of course I’m stuck in traffic at the most inconvenient time possible. I’m gonna be late and that means trouble and failure.”
VS
“All these other people have places to be, I’m not the only one running somewhere late. We all want to move along quickly so be patient. Everyone runs late from time to time.”
2. Acceptance
Once we accept that we aren’t in control of everything in our day, it opens the windows to more positive thinking. It’s often a constant re-acceptance process, because, well, life gets stressful. Checking in with yourself from time to time just to reaffirm that “it is what it is” keeps yourself in check and makes it a little more difficult to stay negative.
“If only I’d gone the other way. What could I have done to avoid this?”
“Nothing I could have done would have prevented my tire from popping while driving on the freeway. It is what it is.”
3. Humor
A sense of humor is arguably one of the most important tools to use for positive thinking. Being able to laugh, even during something negative, is a major tool to get through life. Not everything is funny. A lot of things go bad. But facing challenges head-on while holding a spark of humor can do wonders.
*crying over popped tire because of the stress*
VS
*laughing over popped tire despite the stress*