All my life I was a negative person. I would complain about every little thing. I was thankless and never saw the good in anything. Positive thinking changed my life one day.
In 2016 I developed a horrible cough, which lasted a couple of months. In the initial month of my illness. I was very negative about life. I used to constantly have negative thoughts about having cancer and dying.
That year was particularly hard for me; my grandfather had died and several additional people from our extended family had passed away suddenly.
This loss had resulted in my negativity reaching another level, I used to constantly think about something happening to my parents.
My health started to deteriorate instead of improving and then
One day I was sitting on the couch feeling afraid about the future. A commercial popped up on my screen that featured an inspiring speaker talking about how positive thoughts can change your life.
My first inclination was that she sounded crazy. But then my mind went back through all of the events in my life which had led me to fall so ill.
I started to think deeply and I started to read more about the power of positivity. Those same negative thoughts turned into reasons why everything would be okay again if only I could have some positivity injected into my soul.
Let us understand what Positive thinking is
Positive thinking is the act of concentrating on things that are good and helpful to you.
It includes mental exercises that help change your attitude from negative to positive. It can help you to become more relaxed, peaceful, and happy.
Everyone can learn to utilize positive thinking. It’s also beneficial in dealing with unpleasant emotions such as rage, guilt, jealousy, sadness, depression, envy, and dread.
You can either look at the glass half full or half empty
Take a look at this closely. How do you look at it? “You can either look at the glass half full or empty”. What exactly does this mean?
This is exactly your attitude towards life and how you feel about things around you.
The optimistic person will always see the glass half full
This means that whatever the circumstances may be, they will try to find something positive in it and be hopeful that something will turn out well.
Pessimists will see the glass empty.
Negative people are those that will always look at the glass as being half empty.
This means that they will find any excuse to complain and find things wrong with any situation. They’ll also find a reason to not try hard at anything because they don’t believe in themselves.
You can your thinking to be more positive.
Initially, when you discover this concept you may feel lost. Particularly if you tend to see everything in a negative light.
I was so used to blaming the world and others for my problems. That I found it hard to grasp this concept of positivity
It took me years of practice and different techniques to be the person I am today, and trust me I still have times where I go into negative modes.
How I changed my thinking to be more positive?
After seeing the commercial on TV, the first step I took was to google ways to change my thinking.
I was overwhelmed because there was a lot of information out there. I spoke to my mom who was interested in such things and she gave me feedback.
The first step for me was to start reading self-improvement books.
I was better able to understand this concept by reading self-help books and articles. Trust me reading does nothing if you don’t practice this in your daily life.
There are quite a few books that I read and this is now a practice in my daily life
One book which I read and would recommend for people who are just starting off is“Good Vibes. Good Life: How Self Love is the key to unlocking your greatness.
The above book is an easy read to get you started. You can get a list of other recommendations in this article.
Self-love is key to positive thinking
When I started reading these books, I realized that I had major self-esteem issues and I perceived myself in a negative light.
I realized that I didn’t love myself if I had such a negative perception of my own self, how could I look at other things in a positive light ever.
Self-love is one of the most important things in your life.
How you feel about yourself will determine if you are able to lead a fulfilling life or not. You need to learn how to love yourself before you can learn how to love others.
Self-love isn’t just something that appears magically one day. It’s something that needs time and energy to grow, and it starts with acknowledging the good things about yourself- even if those things seem small.
The journey to self-love is a process of its own and it takes time. Take a look at our 30-day Self-love challenge, to begin your self-love journey today.
As I continued to practice self-love I noticed a change in my attitude. I started to feel better about myself and became more confident in life. Simply altering my mindset about myself resulted in a shift in my thinking from negative to more optimistic.
Being Grateful for what you have
The most strongly recommended exercise for positive thinking was Gratitude. I found the practice difficult to follow initially. It was because I had gotten so used to comparing my life with that of others that I never took the time to acknowledge what I had been fortunate enough to receive.
How being grateful changed my life
Every morning, I made it a habit to jot down five things for which I am grateful. Once this exercise became a habit I couldn’t believe the things I was feeling. I felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest and I no longer felt weighed down by all of my problems. It was as if the fog of negativity had been cleared from my mind.
Gratitude is also the key to beating negative thoughts so start practicing today!
Practicing gratitude made me feel better about myself but it also allowed me to look at the world in a more positive light, especially when things weren’t going my way.
It became second nature to look at things in a more positive light and I started to see that there was good everywhere, even in the bad. It didn’t matter if it wasn’t perfect, everything had a beauty of some sort and I needed to acknowledge it in order to appreciate life.
I realized how important it is to appreciate the little things and look at life from a different, more optimistic outlook. I’m not saying that it’s easy to stay positive all of the time because that would be impossible.
You can access our 30-day Gratitude Challenge for more ideas and practices.
Live in the moment and practice mindfulness
In order to make the most of life, you need to learn how to live in the moment and appreciate everything around you. It isn’t always easy to practice mindfulness, but it’s something that will greatly improve your life overall.
Mindfulness allows you to experience life to its fullest by appreciating all of the good things that are happening in your life. It also helps build self-confidence, curiosity, and creativity.
You can practice mindfullness anywhere
You can practice this at any time by paying attention to your environment and by slowing down every now and then. Mindfulness does not require any specific activity but rather attentiveness to what is happening right now.
Being mindful allows you to put aside other thoughts and focus on the present moment with an open mind.
One of the biggest problems I had was that I would worry too much about the future. Practicing mindfulness allowed me to live in the moment and not worry about the future.
Meditate Daily
Meditation is a form of self-inquiry and can help you take a step back and look at your life. It’s a way to stop blaming others for the things that happen and allows you to find peace in difficult times.
One of the best ways I’ve found to meditate is by practicing yoga. Yoga provides an opportunity to tune into our mind and body and use that as an entry point into meditation. This helps us become aware of what we’re feeling, thinking, and needing in the present moment without judgment or analysis before we make any changes.
When we focus on improving our thoughts we can improve our lives by developing positive habits and enabling ourselves to be the best version of ourselves possible. Meditation helped me learn how to be mindful, confident, and grateful.
I still make it a practice to meditate every day because it allows me to step back, analyze my thoughts, and learn how to change them for the better. It has led me down a more positive path in life that has allowed me to appreciate all of the small things along the way.
These are some mediation exercises you can try.
Other Ways to Practice Positive thinking
- Practice Affirmations Daily
- Be More Giving
- Taking care of your physical and mental health
- Enjoying your hobbies
- Believing in yourself and your dreams.
How has Positive thinking changed my life and how it can change yours?
Positive thinking can keep you from feeling sad and powerless. It can help you find peace and happiness.
My experience with positive thinking has changed my life for the better.
Through changing my thinking patterns and seeing the positives in every situation, I am happier than ever before.
Final piece of Advise
My advice is to refuse to wallow in self-pity and negativity, no matter how difficult your situation seems at the time. Instead, thinking positive thoughts can help you to feel better and move past your problems.
Practice mindfulness, practice gratitude, mediation, and Self Love daily.
Negative thinking patterns cannot be changed overnight but with time and patience, you will learn how to turn negative thoughts into positive ones.
The sooner you begin the process of learning how to be positive, the sooner you can start developing a more fulfilling and meaningful life.
