Why Keeping It Positive Is The Key To Your Sanity
It’s essential that you try to find the best even in bad situations.
Everyone has days that include nothing but negativity and ultimatums. The pressure of school and work and other aspects of life will occasionally build up to amounts that seem unbearable, and you’ll be left feeling like your only options are to lay in bed or to completely relinquish all your hopes and dreams because you can’t possibly get through the day successfully.
The pressure to get good grades can make studying for a test more terrifying, and the “over achiever” work ethic can almost handicap you in the workforce if you never let yourself feel like your working to the best of your abilities. We’ll have those mental breakdowns, those days of ultimate sadness, and those moments that make us question the point of everything.
Everything can’t be rainbows and sunshine all the time. We’re still human. And while those moments in our lives that feel like the worst of the worst are almost unavoidable, it’s important to understand that letting ourselves sit and stir in these ruts will do us no good if we let it go on for too long.
It Doesn’t Help You Move Forward
Being negative about yourself and your surroundings is like building your own obstacles: you’ll be creating a tougher route to your goal. Honestly, you’re digging your own grave. All that happens when you get bent out of shape about your current situation is a halt in your progress. You get stuck in the moment in the worst way possible, wasting time that could be spent fixing the problem while placing yourself in a hole of bitterness that will distort your perspective on everything further. Negativity is truly based on perspective, and it tends to spread.
Don’t channel the classic book and now movie Alexander’s and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. His entire day is described like Doom’s Day had occurred. The truth is, some days will just not be the best. You’ll trip over your own feet, and you’ll get a bad grade on a test (sometimes on the same day). That doesn’t mean you’re life is a wreck and you’re a failure at life. You’re experiencing life, which sometimes sucks, and focusing on the setbacks you face will only keep your focus in the past. And if you’re someone with a due date, a deadline, a degree, or a 5-year plan, losing site of the prize because of one minor bump in the road will do nothing but inhibit your motivation to move past it. You don’t have time to be pulled back, you have to look forward towards making things better.
It Brings Others Down
Negativity brings you down, and bums the people around you out. If you’ve ever been in a classroom or to a party before, you know that the vibe people radiate will affect the environment around them. No one wants to party with a bunch of Debby Downers, and no one wants to hear every worst-case scenario when they’re trying to get the same work done. It’s like having Eeyore follow you around and remind you of every negative aspect of your daily routine. It’s unmotivating, depressing, and incredibly annoying. Imagine having to run a mile after never having enjoyed running in your life, and hearing your personal trainer follow behind you screaming at how awful you’re doing and at how painful running feels. It’s not encouraging.
Try and See the Positive
It’s always there. You could be the most pessimistic person (or what we like to call “exceedingly realistic”), but you will never get anywhere if you don’t learn to kick yourself out of your negative Nancy thought process and force yourself to see the one, minuscule positive of that moment. Having an outlet for those bad days can help you clear your mind and a good talk with a friend can help put your worries into perspective. Believe it or not, one bad day is not the end of the world, not matter how terrible it seemed. Something can always be done, and you can overcome anything.
