Motivation Parlour

Tag: positivity

  • 7 Simple Priceless Ways to Keep a Positive Attitude when you feel Negative

    7 Simple Priceless Ways to Keep a Positive Attitude when you feel Negative

    In a world where suicides resulting from stress and depression are rising, what price would you pay to keep a positive attitude?

    Maybe there isn’t. But to some extent, a long and positive life doesn’t come on a silver platter. There is a way you could go about things in your life to make you stay positive.

    According to the World Health Organization, depression is a common mental disorder. It affects over 264 million people of all ages across the world. It’s also a major contributor to the global disease burden.

    However, you shouldn’t confuse it with typical mood fluctuations and mild stress levels arising from everyday challenges.

    WHO also reports that 800,000 people commit suicide every year. Suicide is the second leading cause of death worldwide among 15-29-year-olds.

    Your mental health is key to your survival. Your thoughts are the source of your life. Learn to master them, and you have solved 80% of the problems in your life. Your heart is the wellspring of life. Here, we give you simple but kick-ass tips to keep you positive and live longer.

    How to Keep a Positive Attitude in the Face of Adversity

    positive attitude
    Photo by Ketut Subiyanto

    1. Keep a Positive Attitude through Hope

    According to the Merriam-Webster, Dictionary, hope as a doing word is to cherish a desire with anticipation. As a noun from the same source, hope is desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment.

    The opposite of hope is despair. You may despair because you feel life has no meaning anymore. Still, you could lose hope because of trouble in your life that made you suffer.

    On the same note, you could lose hope because of a series of empty promises from friends and enemies.

    But I’m here to tell you to keep the hope. Keep it because it will protect you when people may want to take advantage of your desperate situation.

    You need to keep the hope because it will help you envision something beautiful out of life. According to the American Psychology Association, children who grew up in poverty and ended up being successful had one thing in common: Hope

    2. Handle Criticism in a Healthier Way

    Criticism is the act of finding fault in someone or something. In most cases, criticism is never about the receiver but the person speaking it. How many times in your life have you shied away from what you want to do in life because of the fear of criticism?

    Often, fear of criticism leads to impassivity, sucking the joy and life out of you. Nevertheless, you shouldn’t fear criticism, but you would rather handle it more healthily by embracing a positive attitude towards it.

    Often, fear of criticism leads to impassivity, sucking the joy and life out of you. Nevertheless, you shouldn’t fear criticism, but you would rather handle it in a healthier way.

    Diving deep and further, you can learn to handle criticism healthier rather than running away from it.

    For instance, some comments can be a criticism if we take them to heart or make them personal. On the contrary, you can make the situation less tense by laughing the comments off.

    At best, it is good not to reply but let go. But if you must reply, you may want to start with a question to hear the criticism once more. To add on, you could turn the criticism into a positive situation for you or make it a light moment.

    3. Turn the Negatives thrown at you into Positives

    To keep a positive attitude even when feeling negative, you need to take control of your mind. Be strong mentally. Just as negativity is all around us, positivity is also there. The key takeaway here is to have a flexible mind.

    If a situation turns out to be negative and less than what you expected, remain collected, sober, and figure out what you should do next. It’s easier to figure out Plan B when you are still collected.

    It also helps to have positive comments for negative remarks thrown at you. Of course, you are not a computer with a line of thought for every word people feed into your ears. But having a word that turns out to be a negative remark for your good makes you feel much better.

    Turning the negatives into positives also means pushing the negative thoughts out of your mind. Yes, they can pass by but don’t allow them to settle.

    4. Avoid Self-Condemning Thoughts

    positive attitude
    Photo by Nathan Cowley

    Taking responsibility for your silly decisions or mistakes in life is good, but it’s never healthy to blame yourself. Tell me of one person who doesn’t make mistakes, and I will show you a ghost.

    You must come to terms with the fact that every day in your life is an opportunity for you to rebuild your self-image. Whether you sucked or embarrassed yourself the day before, having the courage to pick yourself up and get moving is what makes the difference.

    So, learn to keep a positive attitude by filling your mind with good thoughts about yourself.

    For instance, if you are a believer and study the Christian Bible, then you must know Christ died for you on the cross while you were still a sinner.

    Christ forgave you and imputed God’s righteousness on you. If you catch yourself sinning or falling into sin, always tell yourself you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, and eventually, you will be. Isn’t it written the righteous will live by faith?

    Self-condemning thoughts hardly add any value to you but take out all the positivity in you, leaving you deflated. Think well about yourself.

    5. Find Positivity Within you

    My script about keeping a positive attitude may not help you if you don’t discover the positivity you carry within.

    Further, we are born positive until we allow negative life experiences to shape our mentalities. If you carry positivity within you, negative situations or experiences will not linger on you for long because you will have to find another like environment to go to.

    By nature, you are positive. But most people refuse to hold on to this reality and listen to what the world will tell them they are.

    Put another way, you are God’s creation, fearfully and wonderfully made. Whether people categorize you as beautiful or ugly, it won’t negate the fact that God created you wonderfully. Find solace in the positivity within you.

    6. Tell Yourself it Could be Worse

    positive attitude

    You could be the most pious person or a fugitive, but none of your statuses could make you immune to daily life challenges. Accidents occur in our lives from time to time. But somehow, you always find yourself alive again to tell your story.

    The main issue is that we don’t have insurance for negative life events.

    Anytime you find yourself in a situation that is so hard to bear, keep a positive attitude by always telling yourself you are lucky because it could have been worse.

    To the best of my knowledge, the worst that could happen in your life is when you lose your life. Anything else that doesn’t kill strengthens you.

    7. Find your Purpose in Life

    The purpose is the reason why something exists. What’s the reason for your existence? The key to keeping a positive attitude is discovering why you exist.

    Besides anything else, discovering your purpose in life is the greatest thing you’ll ever find. The world is full of successful people who are devoid of purpose. Despite the affluence and the mega lifestyle they live, they always find themselves unfulfilled and feeling empty.

    Yes, money will make life easier for you, but it won’t fulfil you because you will keep looking for it even after you have made your billions. Come to think of it, materialism and fame also fall in the same category as money.

    Your true purpose in life is not inward-facing. It’s outward. You are in the world for a reason; finding that reason is the best fulfilment.

    What do people say about you? Or what do you find easier doing? Getting answers to these questions could kick-start your journey to discovering your purpose.

    Summing Up

    To keep a positive attitude is a matter of choice. You have the power to do it. Keeping a positive attitude is not all about smiling and looking good. It’s something deeper that comes from within you.

    Make the choice today to observe the positive heart-warming list and see yourself live a life of a positive attitude.

  • 5 Ways to Stay Positive Always

    5 Ways to Stay Positive Always

    Can you even stay positive?

    You aren’t even living your dreams yet. How can you?

    We face a pandemic right now that has kept us locked in our homes.

    Can we still embrace positivity?

    You all know the saying that when life hands you a lemon, turn it into a lemonade.

    Well, it is easier said than done. How about the negative situations, behaviors, thoughts and experiences you face in your daily life? Do you turn them into positives or you immerse yourself in a sea of negativity?

    It is very easy and almost natural to be positive when everything in your life is good.

    So, how does a good life look like?

    You’re meeting your goals, your wallet is growing fatter every new day, you are full of health and surrounded by caring loved ones. Right?

    Conversely, being positive in the face of negativity is one hell of a mountain to climb. How are you expected to be positive when you have a sick spouse in the hospital?

    Still, how are you expected to be positive when you are broke, hungry and cannot even afford three square meals in a day?

    It becomes even more difficult to tell a graduate to be positive about life when they have gone round in search of a job for months without success.

    There you are! Trying hard to make your business work but ends somehow just can’t meet. From the lazy and sly staff to poor sales and low profits, negativity snaps the joy of life away from you.

    So how are we expected to be positive when we are being hit left and right with negativity?

    From the negative clergyman to the negative conductor on the road, we also meet people who are outrightly negative and only make us negative. Not at all.

    Actually, no one expects you to be positive or negative. It is none of their damn business, it yours.

    The world is full of negativity in equal measure as positivity and it’s upon us to make the choice on whether to dwell on the positive or negative. Let me not blame the world, you need to look at your own life and you will be surprised to notice the negatives on you. Have you noticed how you belch loudly? What about the large tummy that you don’t enjoy looking at? Okay, you know you are quiet and reserved and you hate yourself for it.

    When we constantly focus on our negatives, we register negative mental states in our subconscious minds.

    Anytime you get confronted with a strange situation or circumstance, you condition your mind to point out the negatives before the positives.

    Have you ever realized how negative people complain about everything? If not, the weather today is bad it will be the waiter was disrespectful. If not, am bored today it will be the food today is tasteless.

    Being mentally positive can be actually hard if you are accustomed to looking at a glass as half empty.

    However, with much practice, perseverance and patience, you could just be on your way to be the most positive person you have ever met.

    For example, let us say you are used to viewing news as always bad news.

    So every news hour you switch off the TV because you have the skewed notion that news is always bad.

    Well, maybe you will need to test your perception and understanding of what makes up bad news? Besides, you could start watching sermons and your favorite music if at all you find them positive.

    What about your negative views towards the current regime? Could you just change your negative mentality a little and start being a fair judge here? It is actually so negative to only point at the ills of an individual institution or government without recognizing their achievements.

    For you to cultivate that positive mentality it is important to make the step of recognizing the good in every opportunity, person or situation you deem bad.

    So how should we handle negativity?

    Just like learning any other virtue, being positive is also a character that you can learn.

    Therefore, the only way out of negativity is to stay positive at all times. One reason is that you will never ever chase all the negative people from your life and neither will you avoid them in totality.

    Somehow the people close to you could be negative. Rather than try to avoid them appreciate the good in them.

    Here are five tips I use to fight negativity

    1. I Accept Who I am

    A long time ago as a teenager I would feel terrible about my muscle size and how short they compared me to my peers. However, I grew into a youth and realized I could just be as sizeable as any other person. This all began when I started accepting myself the way I am.

    So do you feel a flaw in you could make you uncomfortable? To be sincere with you, every single one of us has a flaw. What makes the difference is the fact that some have accepted who they are with their flaws and have moved on to other pertinent issues in life.

    A person who focuses on his/her flaws only magnifies and makes them even more pronounced in their mind.

    Focusing on your flaws only serves to kill yourself-esteem, kill your self-confidence and make you less productive in life. Putting you in not a very good disposition to attract success in your life.

    To be positive in life, stop focusing on your flaws and focus on your strengths. Everyone has strengths. This explains why interviewers usually ask a prospective employee about their strengths because they know they have some.

    1. I Share My Positivity with Others

    Basing on the Law of Cause and Effect, I highly encourage sharing out your positivity with others.

    This law also referred to as Karma states that whatever you send into the universe comes back. If you send out negativity, you get back negativity. Conversely, if you send out positivity, is what you will get.

    I am made to understand that such laws never err. It just the same concept when the Bible talks about reaping what you sow.

    If you sleep more today, you will sleep hungry tomorrow. No shortcuts! No magic! The same concept is clearly showed by an echo sound. It only echoes what you say and nothing else.

    And so how do I share out my positivity with others? I compliment them when they look good. I chat continuously in a Whatsapp group that is always dormant and silent.

    I notice the good things around me and admire them for what they are; the sparkling VX V8 speeding past me, the artistically designed bungalow across the street, the smartly dressed young man nearby. The list is endless.

    Apart from just complimenting, I also share my positivity with others by encouraging those who feel life is over for them or life is unfair, rather. This I do via this blog and the many individuals I interact with.

    You need to realize that by you encouraging others you make them have a positive outlook on life and subsequently you never remain the same but also change to be like them.

    1. I start My Day in Positive Like Let’s Say Listening to My Favorite Music

    Sometimes I may wake up confused and full of fearful thoughts. However, all that changes in an instant when I play my favorite music.

    How you start your day counts a lot in how you will handle the negatives that will get to you during the day.

    Imagine yourself quarreling with your wife as the first thing when you wake up. The rest of the day won’t just flow.

    Your productive energy is already sapped through the quarrel and you will view every other encounter on negative glasses.

    Your subordinates at your place of work could have it rough that day.

    One other way I start my day positive is to start with a morning devotion where I study the word of God and pray. Here are some simple truths about a morning devotion using God’s word:

    1. It builds your faith as a Christian
    2. It heals your physical and emotional pain
    3. It fights the enemies in your life, including works of the devil
    4. It builds your character
    5. It brings hope

    There is no doubt about the positive power of good music and a morning devotion to your life.

    1. I Try as Much as I Possible to Live in the Present

    Living in the present is one sure way of letting go every fear that creeps up on you from failures of the past and anxieties of the future.

    I live in the moments by taking a walk through nature and enjoy the cool breeze and the sound of moving wind. I also live at the moment by appreciating the things I have in life instead of worrying about what I do not have.

    Sadly, a conversation with friends or a TV commercial could kill this disposition in you, such that you become empty and a low achiever when TV commercials project a life of class and wealth that yours does not compare to.

    Adding on to your negative state is when you worry about your future and thinking of the things you do not have and what you are supposed to achieve.

    Too many of us have stolen the joy out of our lives by worrying about our future.

    For instance, you will come across a young person worrying about the man or woman they will get married to. Their health, their finances and many other things.

    Well, not that we should not live in the present but it is healthier, positive and less of an effort to live at the moment than constantly think about your future.

    Some successes in your life happened randomly, without even your planning.

    1. I Choose to be Open-Minded

    By being open-minded means I will consider new ideas. Whether I embrace them depends on my core values as a person and more so as a child of God.

    However, sometimes being narrowly minded can be a big cause of negativity in our lives.

    We value more who we are and what we know to the point of refusing to acknowledge any new idea or information contrary to what we already know.

    For instance, a Christian who firmly believes in the word of God and full of faith might get agitated when he or she meets an atheist who tells him or her there is no God.

    However, they only needed to acknowledge that not everyone is saved and not everyone believes in God.

    That makes a hell lot of a difference and make them feel more positive than negative about the experience.

    To be positive in life, be open-minded and accept that in your journey through life you will meet so many people who will oppose your absolute truth about life and yourself. If you are open-minded you will approach such encounters with positivity rather than negativity.

    Final Thoughts

    What are you negative about?

    1. Is it your current job?
    2. COVID-19 pandemic?
    3. Sickness?
    4. Your spouse?
    5. Your child?
    6. Your mother-in-law?
    7. The government?
    8. Yourself?
    9. Your lack of employment?

    The list is endless. Whatever situation that makes you feel negative train yourself to only see the positive in situations and other people.

    Soon, you will be on your way to being a positive person in life.

    Cheers!