Positive Thinking
This may seem like something that is a no-brain-er to many of us but it is actually MUCH harder than it seems. I find that not only are there the larger more obvious negative thought but that there are also a lot of tiny little molecule-sized negative thoughts that seep into your subconscious when you are not even actively thinking. So how do we challenge these thoughts that we don't even know I are there?! How do we take on any negative thought at all for that matter?
A lot of research tells us that we should erase the thought as soon as it enters our minds. Replace that thought with a better thought and you are cured of negativity ( "I suck" into "I am a strong confident person" or "Strawberry" and "NO blueberry!")! Unfortunately, general Psychology tells me that erasing a thought only makes me think of it more. This is absolutely true and you should try it just to see how awful this researched idea is. For five minutes try not to think of strawberries and only blueberries. After the five minutes write down everything that pops into your head for about two minutes. I will bet you money that strawberries are on that list more then once. So this goes back to the question on what can we do?
When I think of it in terms of an external problem, because negative thoughts are essentially problems that are internal, I think of ways that we as humans go about SOLVING these types of problems. When a problem arises we ask questions, you know the who what why when how, to rationally go through the motions to get ourselves answers. Asking "Why did this problem happen?" or "What can I do to solve this problem?" are prompts that lead to more questions and more answers to break down and rationally engage ourselves positively into the problem. The more answers we have the better we can come up with a solution to solve the problem.
We need to logically and rationally understand our problems and this is a great way in going about that. We are actively thinking, participating, and engaging in ourselves which leads to better thinking overall. I am not saying, again, that this is an easy thing to do because the nasty habit of negatively thinking and being entirely too hard on ourselves is almost like an addiction.
I plan to make THIS my new habit in the new year rather then wallowing endlessly in negative thought after negative thought as most of us so commonly do without even noticing most of the time! Something that I am going to try, because we don't have unlimited hours in our day to continuously break down thought after negative thought, is start a negative thought journal. When it pops into my head I will write it down, store it, and go back to it when I have a peaceful moment to break it down.
This year will be more positive and free. That is my goal! How about you?
A lot of research tells us that we should erase the thought as soon as it enters our minds. Replace that thought with a better thought and you are cured of negativity ( "I suck" into "I am a strong confident person" or "Strawberry" and "NO blueberry!")! Unfortunately, general Psychology tells me that erasing a thought only makes me think of it more. This is absolutely true and you should try it just to see how awful this researched idea is. For five minutes try not to think of strawberries and only blueberries. After the five minutes write down everything that pops into your head for about two minutes. I will bet you money that strawberries are on that list more then once. So this goes back to the question on what can we do?
When I think of it in terms of an external problem, because negative thoughts are essentially problems that are internal, I think of ways that we as humans go about SOLVING these types of problems. When a problem arises we ask questions, you know the who what why when how, to rationally go through the motions to get ourselves answers. Asking "Why did this problem happen?" or "What can I do to solve this problem?" are prompts that lead to more questions and more answers to break down and rationally engage ourselves positively into the problem. The more answers we have the better we can come up with a solution to solve the problem.
We need to logically and rationally understand our problems and this is a great way in going about that. We are actively thinking, participating, and engaging in ourselves which leads to better thinking overall. I am not saying, again, that this is an easy thing to do because the nasty habit of negatively thinking and being entirely too hard on ourselves is almost like an addiction.
I plan to make THIS my new habit in the new year rather then wallowing endlessly in negative thought after negative thought as most of us so commonly do without even noticing most of the time! Something that I am going to try, because we don't have unlimited hours in our day to continuously break down thought after negative thought, is start a negative thought journal. When it pops into my head I will write it down, store it, and go back to it when I have a peaceful moment to break it down.
This year will be more positive and free. That is my goal! How about you?