How to Stay Positive In A Negative World

Are you tired of looking at the news and news alerts to see horrible things happening around you? Have you asked yourself why negativity seems to be the only thing that the world cares about or focuses on? It isn’t always easy, but it’s important to be intentional when figuring out how to stay positive when it feels like you’re surrounded by negativity.

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How to Stay Positive In A Negative World

Positive Mindset & Outcomes

You have probably heard before that if you want to attract positive things you need to exude a positive mindset.

Yes, sometimes we get lucky and good things happen when we don’t feel like we deserve them.

With negativity surrounding you every day you have to be intentional and focus on your mindset.

Changing or shifting your mindset isn’t always easy, but it’s worth it!

Focus on how to be more positive yourself, and have a different perspective on the things that you see. Then, focus on how you can impact those situations.

It’s important to keep in mind that when you react negatively, you’re literally handing over the power you have to impact the outcome on your own life and the lives of others.

Giving in to emotional reactions and negativity is figuratively handing control of the situation over to the VERY thing or person that caused you to be emotional…
~ Kristen Hale

In the grand scheme of things, we have to remember that we’re all human beings. We aren’t perfect. And it can be difficult to choose to respond in a positive way. Especially during negative events, or when we are the recipient of negativity, personally.

Human Nature

The first thing to keep in mind is that our nature is typically to approach things from a negative perspective.

Think about it.

When you were a kid and you did something wrong, you most likely didn’t have parents that said, “Sally, tell me what you need. I don’t understand what you need when you aren’t using your words.” Most of you received corrections that sounded like this, “Stop doing that” or “Stop yelling”.

If you had parents or influences that shaped your attitude and perspective like the first example, you likely struggle less with having a positive perspective than most people.

You see, we’ve been programmed since an early age, to approach situations from a negative perspective. In order to change how you see the world, you have to consider your perspective.

As you look into how you perceive each and every situation you can better understand how to shift your own perspective.

Changing your mindset begins with an awareness of where you are, how you react and how you respond in difficult situations.

It’s time for a bit of self-reflection.

Are you walking on the same negative path that you’re frustrated and seeing in others?

Ideas To Stay Positive In A Negative World

Now we’re going to jump into some ideas to help you stay positive when negativity feels like it’s surrounding you.

1. Read, grow & stay engaged

Try to read books, listen to podcasts, and read posts and articles on positive things that are happening around you. Find things that you’re interested in, that you love, and set aside, with intention, time to keep your heart and your mind focused on the things that matter most to you.

2. Have reliable mentors and friends

Be sure that you’re interacting with people who share your values. Now this isn’t to say that you shouldn’t interact with people who have different perspectives than you. That’s just a healthy thing to do.

The reality is, no one is ever going to have the exact same perspective that you do on everything. And that’s good. Imagine how boring society would be If everyone believed exactly the same things and had the same perspective. We may as well be robots if that happens and we would never see growth or change.

3. Avoid isolation

If you happen to be a person that’s isolated for whatever reason, just remember there are opportunities for you to connect with people outside of personal physical connection.

As I write this post, we are in the midst of COVID craziness. So we are being forced to figure out how to stay socially engaged when we’re socially distanced. Whatever you do, just be sure that you are staying connected with others.

4. Take time to reflect

Knowing how to stay positive is very reliant on being able to measure your own reaction, or how you respond, when negative things are happening around you.

Stop and think about how you react to certain situations. Is your tendency to fly off the handle? Maybe something someone said, rubbed you the wrong way, or you’re sensitive about that topic.

Consider the idea that the sender either didn’t understand your perspective or that what they were saying could hurt you.

Another possibility is that the sender is also going through a difficult time, and may need some grace in our reaction.

How we react to difficult situations, the attitude that we take in life, is going to forever tell our future. This is not just in our relationships, but in everything that we do. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be remembered for the person that reacted harshly whenever something didn’t go my way.

These are four simple ideas to stay positive when you feel surrounded by negativity.

Next, look at what you can do for yourself to stay healthy when coping with the reality of negative situations.

“Don’t wait for everything to be perfect before you decide to enjoy your life”
~ Joyce meyer

Stay Focused On Your Self Care

I talk about this a lot, because I believe it is so important. Women, we have a tendency to set aside our self care as we provide for others around us.

There’s nothing wrong with being committed to the people that we love and going above and beyond to make sure they have everything they need.

Consider this… If we don’t take the time to take care of ourselves h How will we be able to continue to care for those around us?

And I don’t mean pampering and going to the spa every week, but the foundational needs for our self care.

Here are some ways that you can focus on your self care and stay positive.

Start a journal
Get outside and do something different
Try listening to something that motivates you
Use planner to map out your day
Use to-do lists

Be sure to grab a copy of my Self Care Essentials Checklist to keep you focused on your self care easily as you go about your day.

This self care essentials checklist is full of ideas you can look at daily to quickly plan (intentionally) to take care of yourself.

Stay Positive by Seeking Out Good Things

Finally, the last thing we’ll talk about today on how to stay positive in a negative world is probably the most important.

We’ve already established that negativity is happening all around us. Social media, the news, neighbors, friends, family, you name it. There’s no way to avoid seeing the negative things that are happening.

And let’s be real, they are happening. Negative things are going to happen.

The most important thing that you can do as you seek to stay positive amongst negativity is to seek out, intentionally seek out, the positive things that are happening.

You can do this by searching, good things happening in the world today, or searching for some positivity quotes.

Try reading inspirational stories about people who’ve overcome significant difficulties in their lives.

The reality is there are more positive things happening than negative things.

All we have to do is seek them out. Staying positive is all about shifting our mindset.

It doesn’t happen overnight. And it doesn’t mean that we won’t have bad days.