|
Say no to negativity!
Our fears have lives of their own. They shout to be heard; they are loud and insistent. Fears paint dark pictures of what will happen if we don't listen to them. Fears lead us on a spiral downward into negativity
with dismal dramas. A downward spiral starts with one negative or fear-full thought and can rapidly deteriorate from there. Here’s an example of a downward thought spiral:
- “If I don't get this report done on time and if it isn't perfect I could lose my job and then I'll run out of money and I won't be able to take care of my family and they won't love me and they might leave me
and then I'll get sick because I won't have food to eat or a warm place to stay and then I'll die.”
- Does that sound far-fetched? We have all fallen victim to the negativity trap. It is a trap full of anger at ourselves and others. Negativity feeds on itself and if left unchecked, grows into a huge and raging
hurricane that consumes us, for a while anyway.
What do you do? Seize that first negative thought! Capture it; discredit it; banish it. Recognize the fear that lurks behind the thought. Replace the negative thought with a positive thought. “I will do my best
to get this report done and I know that my work is appreciated”. Stop the spiral before it becomes more than it deserves. Is it a mountain or is it a molehill? It seems important now. Do you remember something
about this magnitude that came up last week, last month, last year? Maybe last week, probably not last year. When you go negative about something, “I’ll never get this done.” “They probably made this too hard so
I would fail”, let the negative words be a clue that you are “out of control”. Words like “never” and “fail” are from the dark side. Let these words trigger your evaluation, “In a year, will I remember this
event as being as traumatic as it seems right now?” Use your experience to cast some light on the darkness.
Try This:
Monitor your self talk for “negative” trigger words like “never” “can’t” “should” “fail” and “lose”. Use the event, hearing the trigger, to force an immediate restatement of the opportunity in a positive way.
Restate the negative as a positive; “never” becomes “sometimes” “can’t” becomes “will” and “should” becomes “want”. Don’t let a negative thought get a life of it’s own. Say “yes”. Choose to give life to what you
do want. Keep your energy for you. Negative words and thought are from the dark side. Cast light on the darkness.
|
