Mindset

Remaining Positive When Things Go Wrong

I walked out to my car in the early morning darkness. Then, moving quickly, I missed the ice on the pavement and slipped, scraping up my knee.

In the past, I would have let something like this completely ruin my day. I would scream, yell, and take it out on others.

I’ve changed a lot over the past few years to stop that kind of behavior, but it wasn’t easy. I was guilty of often “catastrophizing” events, making them worse than they were and thinking, “It will only get worse from here.” And it’s easy to be in this mindset, primarily when a pattern occurs and many things go wrong.

Not only is it easy to get down on oneself in these moments, but you actively believe the universe is conspiring against you.

This mindset not only hurts your mentality but ends up becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. By focusing on this perspective, our mind looks for evidence. “That person that cut me off? See, they did that on purpose! Oh, the town didn’t pick up the trash. Guess God wants to screw me again!”

The negativity of this thinking affects our stress levels. We begin to doubt ourselves, feel worse, and have more bad days. That said, I’m not saying we should jump for joy when scraping a knee. That’s just delusional and weird.

I suggest that when bad things happen, reframe them. “Well, the day will get better from here,” or even asking the universe: “Show me how it gets better.”

You’ll be more likely to recognize the positives.

Things start looking up. Someone smiles and says some kind words. Your coffee is better than usual. The weather is nice.

These small good things add up just like the small bad things. It’s your choice as to which one you focus on.

Hey, I’m Bill. I talk about spirituality, self-help, music, mental health, and general positivity.

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