You may have heard the saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” It simply means that it’s better to consistently maintain something than let it lapse and then try to get it back to where it was before. While normally mentioned in the context of health, it can be applied in other areas as well. I’ve recently realized how I should be focusing more on prevention in my own life.
It’s easy for me to take the good times for granted and lose track of what makes them good, which is maintaining a positive mindset. When I’ve had a positive mindset for a week or longer, everything goes more smoothly and it begins to feel like that’s just the natural order of the world. Eventually, though, I start to slip up: I let little things get to me, think and negatively about someone or something, complain, dwell on things I dislike, etc. If I catch myself in time, I can put a stop to the negativity and return to feeling good. However, if I miss the window of opportunity, I end up sliding into a negative state of mind and stay there until it becomes unbearable. That’s when I go back to using life hacks to keep me in a positive mindset and things start getting easier again.
While this has been a regular pattern in my life for several years now, it wasn’t until this year that I discovered its cause. Knowing the importance of controlling my mindset is key to breaking this pattern and staying consistently positive. I suppose this is the logical progression; identify the pattern, figure out the cause of it, and then learn how to eliminate the cause. Each step has been more difficult than the one before it, which is probably why this pattern has continued in my life.
Fortunately, I’ve learned a lot of life hacks that help me snap out of a bad mood or avoid getting into one in the first place. I’m going to work more on using what I’ve learned from The Power of Positive Thinking, The Four Agreements, and The Power of Now to smooth out and, I hope, eliminate this pattern. I’d rather spend some time every day taking care of myself and maintaining a positive mindset than keep returning to a negative mindset and spending a lot of time getting out of it. I hope that writing this blog post will serve as a reminder to me to control my thoughts and use that ounce of prevention to keep me in a good place each day.