Step away from the negativity!

There's been a lot going on in the world lately that is extremely negative. It's easy to succumb to watching the news constantly, wondering what's going to happen next, and worrying for the safety of yourself and those you love. In reality there have always been times like this. The difference is the news is now 24/7 and it's hard to step away from it even for a few minutes. But as the quote says from many years ago, "If we do that, then the terrorists win."

Any time we spend more time in the negative than in the positive we're letting that part of our life win. The good news is we always, always have a choice about where to direct our thoughts. The more we can focus on all the wonderful things happening around us as well, the better our life will be, the better our health will be, and the more joy we will bring into the world.  And the world could always use more of that.

Granted, it takes practice to step away when there's so much negativity to be had. For me the first step was to make the decision not to watch the news. I don't need to know about a murder somewhere else, I don't need to know about something fearful happening, and I certainly don't need to watch any more commercials about prescriptions that have side effects that are worse than the disease they  are created for. If something happens I need to know, I'll hear about it. Other than that, there's no need to watch any of it. The networks have to fill their time. I don't have to fill my brain.

The next step is to catch myself when I'm going in a negative direction with my thoughts. As soon as I do catch myself, I immediately asked myself a really good question. Because as soon as you ask a question you redirect your brain. Great questions that I used to use with my Strategies for Success students include:

• what's good about this?

• what made me smile today? 

• what am I grateful for?

As soon as I start coming up with the answers to one of those questions, I begin to feel better. It's not an instantaneous cure especially if I've spent a lot of time in  negativity hell but I soon start to feel better.

Best thing to do? Start the day positive-just as I'm doing right this very minute. Have a wonderful day!