The Power Within Us
Sunday, September 04, 2016
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"We can complain because rose bushes
have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses."
― Abraham Lincoln
We've all grown up
envying Superman, Spiderman and the like for the superpowers they possess. How
often do we think of the power within us? The power of our mind! Have you ever
noticed how our thinking has an impact on our lives? Positive thinking is
our superpower and fortunately it is only a scratch away (literally and
metaphorically a scratch on your head is all that you need!). Positivity
is no strict science or magic – it’s simply the control of your mind by pulling
in the reins when your mind wanders around negativity.
Keeping your thoughts positive does not
imply that you keep your head in the sand and turn a deaf ear and a blind eye
to unpleasant life events. Rather, it refers to your ability to approach those
unpleasant events with an optimistic outlook. It is anticipating the best, not
the worst. While practicing this, most people would tag you as 'unrealistic',
and the same people tend to believe that pessimism is synonymous with realism.
As baseless as this argument is, your reality is basically what you think it to
be. What you think is what you create! Positive thinking is simply an attitude
that helps you focus on the brighter side of things. And ultimately aids you in
receiving positive results in life. The logic is simple to understand - optimistic
thinking infuses energy into you - when you believe you can achieve a positive
outcome, you tend to work for it and make it happen. When you start something
with negativity in your head, you don't put your heart into it and therefore
are bound to face failure.
It is not hard to be in good spirits
when things are moving as planned, it is when hardships and serious setbacks
are encountered that you have the opportunity to exhibit to yourself and the
ones around you the kind of attitude that you possess. The trick is to fluidly
position your mind and extract positives out of a negative event, to
successfully overcome obstacles. Having a flat tyre could be frustrating but it
might have saved you from being somewhere you shouldn't have been. So, maybe after
all it is a blessing in disguise.
We all have that
one friend who never stops whining and even though she/he maybe nice and sweet
otherwise but we like to avoid them just to keep negativity at bay. Positive
and negative thinking are contagious like an act of yawn! We affect, and are
deeply affected, on a conscious and subconscious level by the words, thoughts,
and feelings of the people we meet. Would you rather like to spend time with
positive, bright people, or those broadcasting negativity? Moral - be a
positive person if you wish to keep friends!
Falling prey to
negative thinking is easy. These thoughts play out like a film that brings you
immense grief. They drain you out of energy and keep you from living in the
present moment. The more people give in to their negative thoughts, the more
they are fed and eventually become stronger. The question is how can we stay
positive? A simple and straight forward answer would be to do things that spark
contentment, peace, love and happiness in you. We all know what things work the
best for us - it could be reading, writing, music, playing a musical
instrument, working out, or spending time with certain persons.
Meditate/Exercise/Yoga
(MEY) - These activities could be highly beneficial for your mind, soul and
body. Yoga has helped me tremendously in easing out work stress (thanks to my
friend who recommended it). See what could work the best for you. MEY have the
ability to shove stress under the rug and keep it there until you are in the
right mindset to tackle it. Even if you are not looking to deal with stress,
these could be highly beneficial in the long run and help you forming an
optimistic outlook toward situations.
Positive People
Give Out Positive Vibes - Have you ever come across strangers who give out
negative or positive vibes? Your conversation with them might have been brief,
but the vibes could be transmitted and received, outrageously. This is how
negativity and positivity affect you - it's right there for people to notice
through your facial expressions, body language and of course words. If you
happen to be in a state of grief, stress, conflict etc, spending time with
positive people could do wonders for you. I usually call one of my best friends
for support. When we are stuck in negative spiral, reaching out to the ones who
could put things into perspective could be great help.
Shift from
Negativity to Positivity - For example, instead of thinking, “I can't pass a
certain exam because I don't have the knowledge,” think, “I know I will face
some challenges in preparing for the exam, but I will work harder to get
through it.” Once negativity hits you, know that it is malignant, endeavor to
replace it with a positive thought. Imagine there are two photos right before
your eyes - it depends on which one you opt to look at (more or less like the
blog photo above - the images of the sunny and the rainy side in your mind).
Think positive, expect only desirable outcomes, and you will see your life
changing drastically.
Stop Playing the
Victim - You create your life; take responsibility! Know that there is always a
way out.
Don't Beat
Yourself Up - When we are in a tight situation, we look at ourselves as losers.
Know that it’s life, you can’t expect it to be a bed of roses. Accept your
defeat and laugh on! It’s easy to dwell on your mistakes; we often get stuck
and can't stop feeling terrible over the past. The only thing we can do is
learn from the past and move forward, smilingly and courageously.
Your Inner Dialogues
and the Voices in Your Head - Your thoughts are majorly affected by the mental
self-talk that you do. The little genie inside your head makes an endless
stream of unspoken thoughts running inside. These thoughts could be optimistic
or pessimistic. Some part of this endless monologue comes from logic and
reason, while a large portion of it is formed through assumptions and
misconceptions due to the lack of knowledge. If these thoughts are negative,
your overall outlook on life would turn out to be pessimistic, whereas if your
self-talk is mainly positive, then you'll end up having a positive outlook on
life. Let positivity flow into your memory and replace negativity when
your life is going through a sticky patch. Don't fret over something you can't
control!
List Things that
You are Grateful for - Being grateful helps appreciate what you already have. I
did a post on happiness a little while ago, and talked about 'Happiness Log' -
create one if you haven't already!
Develop a Personal Mantra - Repeat your magical words every time you find yourself losing it. Come up with something strong, something powerful enough to move your thought process up and running toward positivity.
If we learn to keep our mind in control by avoiding negativity and letting positivity takeover, we can be our own superheros !!!
Here's to
embracing the power within us and welcoming positivity into our lives!
4 comments
Thinking positive makes lot of difference in life. Things are same, but how you look at things is important. Positive attitude towards and positive thinking makes life more comfortable. It also makes your mind more relax and peaceful.
ReplyDeleteBabar Bilal
Definitely ! But people normally don;'t get that until they try it. Positivity has an amazing effect on us overall :)
DeleteHowever, no output without an input! :)
ReplyDeleteYes, so let the input be positive!
Delete