If you found that a particular food made you sick, would it be better to keep eating that food and manage your symptoms or stop eating that food? The answer is clear, simple, and easy in this example, but that’s not always the case in other areas of life.
Something in me has felt off for a while now and I think I’ve figured out what it is. I’ve read and written a lot about mindsets and thinking but I may have been going about it the wrong way. I think I’ve been managing the symptoms created by negative thinking rather than trying to eliminate the negative thinking. This works for a bit but eventually it fails once the negativity becomes overwhelming. Now that I have this idea, I’m going to focus more on thinking positively and ceasing to think negatively.
That may sound like an impossible task, but there are times in my life during which my thinking has been completely positive. During those times, I’ve always felt light, cheerful, and upbeat. Additionally, situations seem to go more smoothly, people seem to act more friendly toward me, and life in general feels easier. Whenever I do a lot of negative thinking, though, sooner or later I start noticing some changes: I get tired more easily, I feel more distanced from other people (even close friends), things seem to go wrong more easily, and it becomes a lot easier for me to get into a bad mood.
I’m far from being the master of my mind, but I have learned a lot of useful life hacks that have helped me use it more often for positive purposes. Moving forward, I’m going to focus on the life hacks that help eliminate negative thinking instead of the ones that merely cover it up or manage the symptoms it creates. The ones I’ve found most helpful for this in the past have come from The Power of Now and The Four Agreements, so I’m going to read/listen to them again for a refresher. Self-knowledge is crucial, and I’m glad to know myself enough at this point to notice when something isn’t working and figure out a plan to fix the problem.