The Power of Positivity

Despite leaving early there was more traffic than expected. I parked the car and quickly sprinted up the stairs only to see the train pulling out of the stations. Argh! How frustrating!

I don’t know about you, but I find it frustrating when life doesn’t go as planned.  At times it seems that regardless of how hard you try life doesn’t turn out the way you expected it to. Thus, creating a feeling of a loss of control. We want to feel in control and feel like we have it all together but we don’t. This can lead us to feeling low and negative. Not only about the event, but also about other aspects of our life.

We don’t get to decide exactly how life turns out but you can decide how you respond to it. As Shakespeare said:  “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”

It is all about perspective and choice. You can choose to be happy or sad. You can choose to view unexpected circumstances as an opportunity for growth and learning or a curse or disaster. Either way the choice is yours.

Research has proven that those people who have a more positive perspective and able to identify more opportunities. It is also beneficial for both your physical and mental health. Whilst, those who adopt a more negative frame of mind seem to find more negativity and disappointment.

Here are a few ways to improve your positive outlook:

• Meditation – take 10 minutes to detach from the world around you. Simple meditation here.
• Writing – write about your positive experiences every day. Actively seeking and writing about the positive experiences will affirm them.
• Play – allow yourself to have fun. Even if it is dancing around the kitchen singing into a wooden spoon whilst cooking. Let go a little.
• Self-talk awareness – be aware of what you say to yourself.
• Gratitude – acknowledging the good parts of your life.

So next time you just miss a train, will you view it as an opportunity to catch your breath or have a negative mental battle with yourself apportioning blame? What will you choose?