Life can present many challenges. Nevertheless, being positive is helpful. Positivity makes you feel better. It helps you to think better. It even makes your heart feel lighter. Just because you are trying to be positive, doesn’t mean you like, ignore, or dismiss your pain. It just means you are going to choose hope tomorrow and the next day and the next day.
This blog will consider some easy ways to practice more positivity. It will also discuss how a positive mind positively impacts mental health and overall well-being.
Read more: The Power of Body Language in Daily Life
Use Positive Words
Words are powerful. What you say changes how you feel. For example, say “I will try” instead of saying “I can’t.” Instead of thinking “This is impossible”, I challenge you to say “This is a challenge.”
Try speaking kindly with yourself – don’t be rude, your brain is always listening. By daily rehearsing your positive words, you form stronger positive thoughts. Eventually, your mind might start to believe more in the positive and will choose it over the negative.
Documenting Positive Experiences
Take a pad or a notebook and each day write out three positive experiences. They can be small things. A warm meal. A kind word. A blue sky.
Recording positive experiences teaches your brain to pay more attention to pleasure. It keeps your mind from worrying. Over time you will foster a mind that notices more positive experiences in your surrounding world.
Be Around Positive People
The individuals we surround ourselves with affect the way we feel. If we are around a group of negative individuals, we likely feel exhausted. If we are around a group of individuals who are hopeful, we likely feel a little upbeat.
Be around people who value positivity. Interact with people who share smiles and hope. Be around people who not only share their problems but who also share solutions to their problems.
Do One Good Thing Each Day
Kindness creates joy. Offer to help a stranger carry a bag. Share your food with a colleague. Compliment someone. Each of these little things creates warm feelings inside of us.
When you create happiness for someone else, your thoughts will also feel happy. These feelings last longer than you think they might. Kindness builds connections. hence, it also grows warmth and peace in our hearts.
Psychology: The Brain has the Ability to Rewire
Your thoughts create your environment. When you think of horrible things all of the time, you feel heavy. Learning how to stop bad thoughts will help lift you.
Ask yourself, “Is the thought helping me?” If it is not, change it. Replace it with a better thought. You might say, “I am doing my best,” or “This feeling will go away.” If you say things like this enough times, it is a habit.
Psychologists talk about flexibility in the brain. Flexible is “neuroplasticity“, which means the brain is capable of change. If you practice thinking positively, your brain will start thinking positively automatically.
If you are choosing hope each day you will physically create new neuro-pathways in your brain. Creating new neuro-pathways enables you to create stronger, better thoughts in your brain. After time and practice, learning to stay positive will be easier and you will live with peace and strength.
Be in Nature Outside
Just get outside. Take a few deep breaths of fresh air. Walk barefoot on the grass. Watch the trees. Listen to the birds. Nature calms the mind.
A short walk is amazing. It reduces stress. It clears your head. People who regularly spend time in nature report being more relaxed and happier. So, make time to be outside every day – or at least just a few minutes of court-and-ball.
Practice Deep Breathing
If you feel stressed, stop and take a breath. Breathe in. Hold it. Let it out.
Do this three to five times. Your body will relax. Your mind will be clear. Deep breathing teaches us to take control of our reactions and to feel peace in the blink of an eye. This great little tip you can use at any moment, anywhere.
Eat and Sleep Well
Food and sleep affect your mood. If you eat junk food, you will have low energy. If you do not sleep enough, your mood will be compromised.
Eat good, fresh food. Drink lots of water. Get seven to eight hours of sleep. Your body and mind will appreciate it. When your body is healthy, your mind will be happy.
Get Moving
Exercise works. It gets your body moving and your mind happy. Whether you wish to go walking, running, or dancing, or stretch and move, do what makes you happy.
When you move your body, it sends out stress-fighting hormones. Good endorphins, and other fat molecules, like cannabinoids, fight anxiety and sadness. 15 minutes of movement in a day can make a real difference.
Avoiding Too Much News
News can be helpful. But too much news can create anxious feelings. It can make us feel afraid and sad.
Again, take breaks from your screen and limit how often you get news to once or twice a day. Turn your attention away from whatever bad is happening and focus your attention on the good that is taking place right in front of you. It is all in balance.
Psychology: Positivity Builds Resilience
Psychologists consistently assert that positive thinking builds emotional strength. The strength people call resilience. Resilient people have a way of bouncing back from everything wrong. Resilient people don’t stay stuck.
Positivity enables the brain to cope with stress and helps with focus and memory. Positivity even helps with sleep, so a positive mind is not only happier but is also stronger.
Forgive Often
Holding on to anger weighs heavily on the heart. Forgiveness helps you to let go. Truthfully, forgiveness helps to relieve pain. It helps to make peace.
You may not forget, but you don’t have to carry every ounce of the pain with you. Forgiveness for both your pain and the pain caused to you opens space for you to begin healing. You know you can’t change the past, so go ahead and let it go. And move into the future with a lighter heart.
Envision Positive Outcomes
Now close your eyes. Think about positive things ahead. Visualize yourself smiling, growing, and succeeding.
This is a way for the brain to think about success. Athletes do this. You can too. Envisioning is a great way to convert aspirations into action.
Be Easy on Yourself
Some days are just harder. That’s understandable. We can’t expect to feel good all the time.
Be willing to feel bad, but don’t stay there. Take it easy on your mind. You’re learning and growing every day.
To Sum It Up
Positivity is not magic. It’s a choice we make every day. It starts small and grows with continued practice.
We know through psychology that the way you think becomes the way your world is. So when we think, we need to think like a gardener. Pull the weeds. Grow hope. Water it with kindness.
Eventually, your mind becomes a peaceful place, and that peace also grows in those around you.
