"Negativity festers in you, man." – Ivan Alexeev, Tapeheads
Sometimes it's hard to avoid negative thinking. When it rains, it pours and that is doubly true when stress is a factor. If you're already bottoming out, it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Okay, I know I'm writing in cliches but seriously, who hasn't fallen prey to the gloom and doom of the self-pity party? I try to limit my whining online but I'm sure it's obvious when I'm feeling rotten about life.
I remember my grandma telling me not to be such a sourpuss all the time and thinking that she just didn't understand… of course, now that I have a melodramatic eight year old daughter, I can totally see where she was coming from! I am constantly telling Roo that changing her attitude can change the kind of day she's having and that when she's mired in pre-teen angst, she is truly the only one suffering. Well, aside from her long-suffering family, that is.
It's easier to dish out advice about positive thinking than to implement it on one's own life. I've been looking for a job recently after being a stay at home mom for the better part of a decade and it's ridiculously humbling. Sure the economy is down and all but it's still demoralizing when you don't cinch an interview right away. Especially when you feel like you have all the qualifications, just an iffy resume. I've been trying really hard not to get discouraged and, really, the best way is to keep trying and hoping for the best.
Katja wrote about the importance of avoiding negative people and I think that is absolutely right on. When you're teetering on the brink of self-doubt, you don't need to question whether your friends are going to help you up or push you over! If you need daily affirmations to confirm your self-worth, do it. Just make sure your positivity isn't achieved by dragging someone else down. I've seen too much of that online recently and the rash of bullying stories is way out of hand. When you think of all the hardships that people face in the world, it's really pretty hard to complain.
I'm trying to remember that!
How do you keep negativity at bay?
"I Don't Let the Little Things Get Me Down" by The Young Fresh Fellows,
one of my favorite bands of all time.
Join us!
Participate in the weekly Live a Little blog hop! Write a blog post how you “live a little,” what’s your small way of living life to the fullest and add your blog post to the InLinkz widget above. Rules: Link to bit.ly/livelittle, and if you want, add the get the InLinkz code for your post. If you post the widget in your blog post, please add these rules as well.
You can also use the image below by getting the code, and link to our Pinterest board. If you would like to contribute to our Live a Little board on Pinterest, let me know and we'll add you.
Like you said, I really try to avoid negative people. I haven't talked to one of my brothers in 4 years because I want to slit my throat the second he opens his mouth. Positive breeds positive.
ReplyDeleteGood luck finding a job! ::sprinkling pixie dust::
I'm sorry it's frustrating to seek for a job :( And I am all for being negative - when there is a reason for that. I'm a big believer that when you are down you are very down, because otherwise life's highs won't be as high either. However... it's a dangerous combination if people around you never lift you up when you are down - nor push you even higher when you are high. Like Liz said.. positivity breeds positivity :)
ReplyDeleteAgreed - Katja! I'm breeding my positive energy now :-)
ReplyDeleteDon't feel alone Naomi, I think it's good when you can't hide how you truly feel. It defines you. Like my mom and others have said before her, " You truly can't appreciate the sweet unless you've experienced the bitter."
I embrace the +++ vibes.
ReplyDeleteWhaa? I just left you a long, insightful comment and now I'm feeling very negative that it's gone. It's SO hard to keep going when there is negativity around; but if it's affecting you a lot do what you can to move away from it. If you can't move away from it, like, it's in your family, pretend it is a boomerang a just kind of flies past you and back to the source. Good luck on the job search, I'm sorry it's so frustrating!
ReplyDelete