How can I focus more on POSITIVE things in my life rather than NEGATIVE?

Question

Focusing on negative thoughts holds me back. Is it possible to change it?

Answer 1

When you have had negative thoughts for so long, this is the only thing your mind is used to...You need to start with affirmatives i.e say to yourself 'I am the best' and keep saying it over and over...this way your brain will adopt the new positive thoughts...What helps me is thinking about people less fortunate than myself and listing all my good qualities... fill your time with reading books on positive thoughts. Get into meditation, go for counselling if needs be and as well as emotional clutter, get rid of things you don't use/need...there are many good websites on decluttering just search on google by typing in the word declutter...If you do believe in God then try to develope your spiritual side alot more...Good Luck.

Answer 2

There are hundreds of ways but none of them are a 'quick fix' so to speak- they require practice and constant review.
The way I use is to try and see the good side of a shitty event. For example say your walking down the street and a car splashes you with muddy water. Your pissed off because your dirty, wet and look a fool. But I'm more likely to laugh bexause- if it happened to someone else sure it would be funny! And it could have been a hell of a lot worse, the car could have run me over. I aim to find the majority of life amusing- and if your smiling then pretty much everything is positive. And after a while of being positive, less **** will actually happen because Iv'e noticed that a negative state of mind tends to make bad things happen. Or maybe while feeling positive I just don't notice it anymore.
Try making a morning affirmation about how, no matter what life throws at you you'll pull through and live this day as if it's your last.
hope it halps ( a little rambled perhaps :P)

Answer 3

You know, focusing requires effort -- choose not to focus on the negative. When something negative pops up, try to think of three positive related things. If you can't, go to a favorite image, such as a beach scene, or a calm and soothing mountain meadow.

You have to examine each negative thought. Does it have merit? Then think about how to change it. Is it just silly, useless negativity? Then push it away, slap it down, stuff it in some deep corner of your soul and think about something else.

Don't worry if you can't do this right away. It takes practice. It will help if you are eating healthy food and getting enough sleep, and have some love in your life. But even if you don't have any of these things, you can take some control.

Good luck.

Answer 4

This is all about people. Some can take it and face it without much damage to themselves and they can still carry on positively to go on with life. To some others its an endlessly struggle to be more on the positive things in life. There are still others it has become like a way of life always negative and at the extreme are those who just couldn’t take it no more will kill themselves or get locked up in mental institution.

Now, is there hope to be a little safe from this dreary outlook where much of what we know of life there are still many unanswered ones always nagging at us non-stop and those who have lost themselves in a total blacked out situation we pray that they can be brought back safely.

Oh yes, we do have hope. Many people were haunted by negative feelings which caught hold of the person's thinking and drives the thinking process to linger on doubts, sad and weird imaginations that offer no help only will link it to feeling of apprehension, anxiety ..or whatever that has the gloomy color been mentioned here. Since it's been let to go on that way like forever and ever, it becomes like something natural, a naturalness which one can do without. If this is true, then it is very possible the same principle applies how we can get started on the road to recovery. Detection of this faulty mechanism in us which seem like a haunting play ground where sad clowns play around and quite suddenly they go mad…..Whoa !!! we don’t want that, do we ? Good heaven….NO !! See

Answer 5

I believe life works this way for the same reason I believe world peace will never exist. We cannot have more peace than what we already have today. Energy cannot be created or destroyed. If everything was perfect, then there would be nothing left to work for. No goal, no progress. Inertia. Death. If you see something empty, you will want to fill it up. You will stay active. It's easier to focus on what's wrong instead of what's right. Of course, if people do that too often then they will have a depressing life. But it's important that we work on our flaws. If we're completely satisfied, if we get too comfortable, we become lazy. Too lazy to really live.

Answer 6

I used to be the most negative person imaginable. It was either black or white with me... hardly ever white. I let burning one batch of cookies ruin my whole day, 3 minutes late to a meeting made me mad at my self, one pimple on my face and I was for sure the ugliest that person that ever lived. That list went on forever..... Yes, you can change... I did! #1, never say ' I never get it right' ... etc.' or 'I always mess things up'....etc. Those statements are simply NOT true! #2, Be as nice to yourself as you would one of your friends.....or even a stranger! I am sure if a friend woke up with a pimple, you wouldn't say '' Oh my God! You look horrible!'' ... Or if they burnt a whole 4 dozen cookies, you wouldn't tell them they were ' stupid ' or ' worthless ' !! In either of these cases, you would try to encourage them and tell them '' it's no big deal! ''
..... Give yourself the same courtesy you would give them. #3,
Learn to recognize the negative thoughts as soon as possible and tell it to SHUT-UP !!!! Then --- replace that thought with something positive. example: " I'm too short '' - think - " Short and Sassy '' , "Short and Sweet '' .... " Short and Sexy " ... If your thought is : " No one will ever love me " - think - " You know what.... that is THEIR loss!!! " .#4. and this is a great place to be: learn to laugh at yourself AND those negative thoughts. Because they are LIES !!! Yes, they are lies told to you a person/people in your life at one time or another that has caused you to have low self-esteem ---- to believe that there is no life for you, a good one, anyway. #5, watch what television shows you watch, watch comedies, something wholesome and up-beat. Be aware of the music you listen to,
listening to sad - ( country) (( sorry country music lover's)) - sad music brings on depression. Also... hanging around negative people ' feeds ' that negativty in you. If they are not willing to ''' change ''' with you, find someone that is up-beat, positive, and basically happy. #6, Learn to love yourself. ((very hard in the beginning )) But each of these steps make it possible. And soon, I promise, you will become that person you desire to be. +++++ I care and wish you only the best!!

Answer 7

Negative thinking is often habitual, it's not as easy as saying "Just think about positive things" because a lot of our thought processes are subconscious.

So you need to reprogram your subconscious. There are books that can help with this (look for the term Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - it's the proven method) but here's a really simplified version:

You need to be more aware of your feelings and you need to keep a record of them. What are you doing when you start to feel bad? What sort of things pop in to your head? Are you calling yourself negative names (i.e. bad, useless, pathetic)? Do you have generalised negative thoughts (i.e. everything is going wrong, I'll never be happy etc.)?

Once you can accurately identify your feelings (be really specific about what your feelings are - guilt, anger, anxiety can all lead to negative thinking) you can start to work on changing them. I can't stress enough the need for written records, write it all down!

Now, when you have all your negativity written down, start to challenge it realistically. Question yourself, does x really mean that everything is wrong? Is your perception worse than the reality? Are you predicting things will go wrong, even if you can't possibly know? Write it all down.

You will need to do this consistently for months, but you'll get better at it, find it easier to spot the reality of the situation rather than your negative perception. You are training yourself to do this automatically and in a while, you won't need to keep records anymore. You'll become very attuned to your emotions and when you start to think negatively, your subconscious will be there with an automatic positive.

That's the theory, I do recommend you get a book though, it'll provide you with good challenging questions to ask of your negative thoughts and provide a good framework for keeping records.

It's hard work, but good luck.

Answer 8

You need to get out of the habit of thinking about negative things. Whenever you catch urself thinking about something negative force yourself to have a positive thought. For example if your thinking you had a really really bad day think about at least one positive thing that happened that day for example you remembered to put the cap back on the toothpaste. Every day before you go to sleep ask yourself "what was good about today" even if its only one thing.

Answer 9

When you think of a negative remind yourself to turn it around to a positive. Take a deep breathe and try and think of a positive aspect.

If you find yourself being negative - stop - and be a good listener instead.

Answer 10

I happen to look at the negative things things in life, I found out for myself that you should look at all you should have, all the happiness in your life and try to show more acts of kindness, people will be more nice to you, and you'll have more positive things in life, than negative, I happen to think it works.