The Power of Positive Thinking and How It Improves Your Quality of Life

One of my goals for this year is to practice positive thinking daily!

What is Positive Thinking?

Positive thinking is a mental and emotional attitude that sees life glass half full and expects the best of outcomes in the future. Most people with a positive thinking attitude are usually the ones who see the best in everyone and tend to wish everybody well. This is a rare trait these days but, I feel like it shouldn't be!

Positive Thinking has the power to completely reconstruct your life. Being grateful for all that you have, will bring you immense joy. Worrying about what you don't have or envying others who have what you want, is draining your quality of life. Keeping a positive attitude towards yourself and everything around you can bring you peace and happiness!

Ruminating, worrying, envying, and complaining are negative thought patterns that are empowering our depression and anxiety. These patterns are called that for a reason. Unless there is a force of resistance, they will continue to repeat. I think it’s so easy to blame the world or blame others around you for problems that you are dealing with. "I don't have or can't have because of so and so." "My life is the way it is because of parent A." Thoughts like these are just half-assed excuses for the ones who can't take responsibility of their own attitudes.
We can control these negative thought patterns and if we want these patterns to stop, then we must fight them.

Negative Thinking Patterns

There are 4 main negative thinking patterns that I have personally encountered. These patterns are mostly just strong emotional reactions but the way in which we deal with these emotions are important. Allowing them to manifest and consume you from the inside out is not the way to go. Give yourself the control to break these patterns and free yourself from negative thinking.

1) Rumination

The focused attention on the symptoms of one's distress, and on its' possible causes and consequences, as opposed to its solutions. Constantly overthinking and over-analyzing the past can haunt you. One reason being, it takes you away from the present. Another, you are wasting all of your cognitive energy on something you can't change. It is more than ok to think about and even mildly analyze the past. Any more than that becomes a negative thinking pattern.
By not allowing yourself to move on and heal from the past, you are preventing yourself from a quality present. Forgive, forget, and move on!

2) Worry

A collection of thoughts and images that are usually negative and relatively uncontrollable. Worrying is a process of trying to problem solve a situation that has yet to come. Resulting in all sorts of negative outcomes. Wasting time trying to problem solve an event or situation that may or may not even happen is exhausting. Try to catch yourself in the act of worrying. Really pay attention to what you are starting to worry about. If it is a hypothetical situation, tell yourself that!

3) Envy

The pain that arises from the good fortune of others. In our day in age, this is becoming more and more common. Everyone is posting about how "photogenic" their lives are. They post about their new cars, their new cameras, their new puppies, etc. It is easy to feel a sense of envy towards the tens of thousands of pictures we see daily. The truth is, we have all felt this way at one point or another. But we have to remember that those photos are highlights, they are not REAL life.

4) Complaining

This is the easiest and most toxic pattern of all! You can get a small feeling of relief by voicing your complaints but, this relief is not going to change what you are complaining about. If anything it will become more prevalent with you and the ones listening to your complaints. I struggle with this sometimes. It is very easy to look for validation from others by complaining. The fact is, it does not change anything. The only thing complaining does is introduce those negative thinking patterns back into your thoughts. Resist the urge to complain about something you disagree with. Instead, replace that urge of voicing your negative thoughts with making a positive observation. I promise, that will spread like a wildfire!

So, what can we do to keep ourselves in the positive state of mind? Like all things, it takes practice. I think of it like an emotional muscle. For every time you correct a negative thinking pattern, your positive thinking mindset becomes stronger. It just takes repetitive work. It’s 100% easier said than done but in the end it improves your quality of life. Like I said, this is something that I will be practicing more this year and I would love it if you all joined me!