Positive thoughts change the way we see life! They open up new opportunities, help us be able to risk trying new things, and make us the kind of person people like to be with.
But, what can we do if we are naturally one of those “glass-half-empty” people? How can we change who we are?
The most important thing is to realize that we weren’t born negative. We learned how to be negative. We may have figured out that if we expected the worse in every situation, we were less likely to feel the pain of disappointment. Or we may have simply been raised in a highly negative environment.
NEGATIVITY IS VERY CONTAGIOUS
Years ago, when my children were small, I made some extra money selling stitchery products at home parties. I quickly learned that if I let any of the guests leave the tiniest seed of negativity on the table, it could quickly grow into a weed that would totally ruin my sales for the evening. If I wanted successful shows, I had to be quick to recognize and turn every negative comment into a positive experience.
Since most of the products I sold were in kit form, it was not unusual for a guest to loudly announce “this looks too hard, I could never do this” in the middle of my demonstration. If I just smiled and went on with what I was talking about, that’s all it would take for others to begin chiming in with their horror stories of unfinished projects and indecipherable instructions, and ultimately most of them would end up leaving empty-handed at the end of the evening.
I learned to carry a tiny 5×7″ embroidered chicken picture in my case for just such occasions. It was far from perfectly done . . . but when I explained that it had been completed from one of the kits that I was selling . . . by my five-year-old son, it changed the whole mood of the room. Instead of leaving empty handed, the “I could never” people and their friends were buying not only that cute little chicken picture, but the egg picture that coordinated with it . . . and the frames to go on them . . . and a few tools they needed. It never failed!
The good news is that, whether we were “taught” to be negative or we just caught it from those around us, we can, in turn, learn how to become more positive with just three simple steps:
EXPRESS GRATITUDE
Train your eyes to look for things to be grateful for and TALK about them. Acknowledge the little things like a hot showers or a good meal and the huge things, like having a home, a family and good health. The more we share the things we’re thankful for, the more we’ll be able to see still other things we can be grateful for.
REPEAT POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS
The more we focus on our positive potential and the gifts God has given us, no matter how meager we think they are, the more we will find ourselves “growing into them.” Our brain starts believing what our mouth speaks. If we repeat a steady stream of “I can’ts” we will eventually convince ourselves that we shouldn’t even try.
CHALLENGE YOUR NEGATIVE THOUGHTS
Instead of mulling over all the negative thoughts about ourselves and what might happen, we need to learn how to quickly dismiss them. Those ANTS (automatic negative thoughts) that we have willingly lived with, need to be evicted as quickly as they pop into our brain.
We all need a little mental “chicken picture” in our pocket that we can pull out to squelch the negative thoughts and remind us that we CAN do it, CAN get through it, CAN risk it. As our brain begins to wake up to all we have and all we REALLY are, we won’t find ourselves needing to run to old addictive behaviors to get through life. We’ll be living it large!
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” — Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
What is your personal mental “chicken picture” that helps you chase away the negative thoughts and voices, and frees you to see and think on all the blessings God has provided? Please share what works for you in the comments below—maybe it will work for others, as well!
Image courtesy of Idea go at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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