Staying Positive
What is require to stay positive during tough times?
Most people are stuck with a negative pattern of thinking, we can all agree that while life has its beautiful moments, there are times when hope seems far away.
The world can often seem like a scary place, with too much fast information, horrifying world news to disturbing local news, from negativity at work, school or pessimism at home, sometimes it feels like we’re constantly surrounded by bad things.
Many humans think that to be positive is easy or just for “the lucky ones” and that’s far from the truth, to stay positive requires a constant every day effort.
The negative messages that are thrown at us from different areas of our lives can be all-consuming if we aren’t mindful. After all, our brains are hardwired to look for negativity and dwell on them. It’s during those challenging moments when we should be open to more opportunities for change and refinement.
Often, you can’t simply remove yourself from toxic humans—maybe it’s a colleague, an in-law, a friend or family member. When the folks in our lives weigh us down and drain our energy, it can become a daily challenge to stay positive.
The good news is that staying positive in a negative world is possible, though!
Think about the way you feel around negative people. Do you have a tendency to be brought down with them, or do you find it easy to brush off their mood? If you are strongly impacted by negative people, that is totally normal and you are not alone.
A few of the many benefits of staying positive include more focus and concentration, more confidence, the ability to combat stress more effectively, and a stronger immune system. An overall healthier lifestyle can help reduce pain.
10 reminders to stay positive 24/7/365:
1. Control the amount of negative news and social media: Have a very limited time or exposure everyday with the Internet, radio, TV, and all social media.
2. Be mindful: Mindfulness is the practice of purposely focusing your attention on the present moment and accepting it without judgment. Enjoy the little things.
3. Practice gratitude: every time you think of something that feels like “worrying” replace it with the 1,000,000 things you are grateful for. Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what you receive, whether tangible or intangible. With gratitude, you acknowledge goodness in your life.
4. Focus on what you can control: The only things that you can control when you are around negative people are YOUR thoughts, actions, and reactions. You may be able to influence them, but you still cannot decide how they will respond to you. Focus on yourself and show yourself love and patience.
5. Live with wellness or “self-love”: Make your health a priority – physical and mental health. Exercise regularly, eat fresh, drink water and couple that with relaxation and meditation.
6. When feeling down, think in the long-term: Sure, this situation you are in might be uncomfortable at the moment, but will it matter next month? three years from now? 15 years from now? Chances are, it won’t. Do not dwell on encounters with negative people, especially if they are not going to matter in the long run. Focus on what is best for you long-term, and find some comfort in that.
7. Remember your truths: Sometimes, people like to try to tell you who you are. This is great when those people have your best interests at heart and are only trying to support you, but unfortunately, that is not always the case. People may say that you are bossy or too much to handle, but only you get to decide who you are. Remember your truths when you are faced with a negative person.
8. Avoid Negative People: Be careful that you don’t spend most of your time with those who are gossipy or disgruntled. They may start to wear off on you, HAVE STRONG BOUNDARIES with gossip and negative people. Staying positive around negativity is definitely a challenge. Both positivity and negativity have a ripple effect on people and are contagious, so mindfully choose the better option, and remember that most humans are addicted to drama and conflict. Do not take things personally.
9. Give (yourself) frequent positive feedback: Up to 94% of customers, employees, clients or athletes/students, kids who receive positive recognition each day feel satisfied or very satisfied with their purchased product, performance, service or company, do the same with yourself.
10. Be and stay humble: Humility is an extremely attractive quality. Humility doesn’t ask you to lose your dignity. Many of the most dignified people also have the most humility. When you stay humble you keep your power, rather than expecting anything from others, you stay sovereign and that’s powerful.
“Humility is the solid foundation of all virtues.” #Confucius
Images provided by Raquel Torres
Raquel Torres, MBA is a USAT Elite Certified Coach, Professional Triathlon Coach and Professional Triathlete. Raquel also writes blogs for several magazines and her team Athletic Mentors. Since May 2021 she contributes as a columnist with CNY Latino Newspaper. She shares true life stories with her experiences, also tips and tactics that helps anyone to be their best version. To read about her, head over to cnylatinonewspaper.com and search for her by her name. You can also send questions or comments about her column to the following email: raquel@athleticmentors.com and go to her website at www.raqueltorres.org
