Thinking positive in hard times

The Quality of Positivity

Positivity is “Maintaining a good attitude, even when faced with difficulty”

We all go through difficult times, more-so now with COVID-19. We find we’re doing Zoom meetings but still missing family members, we’re unsure about long term work, or even whether we will catch a dose of this bizarre disease in the supermarket…there’s nothing like wearing a face mask especially if you been eating a lot of garlic :).

These are the days and times for changing our negative thought patterns to positive — for flipping over and rewording our negative thoughts and speech. While we have a few more months of COVID-19, let’s make some long term changes.

Most negative thoughts are not reality, just seeds in our minds that seem to be planted when we are unaware. We get on a train of thought and begin falling into a pattern. We think of better times, more money, people we’ve disappointed and who have disappointed us, and can easily work ourselves into a tailspin hitting the ground hard, when we didn’t need to.

However, we can flip those thoughts over just by reframing the picture of ourselves. life is never as bad as we often think it is.

What is reframing?

When a situation is reframed, it’s viewed from a more positive perspective

There are many ways to reframe a situation.

1. We can reframe a failure as a learning opportunity.

2. We can reframe a loss as an opening to new possibilities.

3. To find our positive reframe, we try to step back from the situation for a moment.

4. We make an effort to view the circumstances from another perspective, shifting our focus to something good (or even neutral), however small it might be. (In really difficult times, we might need a close friend from men’s group to help us reframe the situation. Give someone a call or contact them through the website contact page).

When to Reframe

There are times when our lives look bleak. Perhaps we have lost someone important to us, or our dreams and goals aren’t working out, or it feels like we are facing huge obstacles at every turn. It’s natural to become bogged down in the hurt, disappointment, or limitations of our situations.

Reframing must remain grounded in reality.

Start with something small and only slightly negative to practice on. As you’re able to stretch yourself to identify and accept more reframes, move on to more challenging situations.

Positivity in life’s journey

Life does not always go as planned—we all face difficulties and inconveniences at one time or another.

The key to overcoming difficulty is in maintaining a relationship focus.

How we respond draws us closer or pushes us away from the people around us.

Some typical daily issues we might have to face:

Your daughter refuses to eat anything but chicken nuggets.

A co-worker is being difficult.

The kids won’t quit fighting.

Your teenager is mouthy.

The boss is demanding.

The toddler was up all night.

Your spouse seems to be in his or her own little world.

When we take a helicopter view of situations, we have a far better perspective and can get a better grip on them, instead of ‘losing it.’

How Negative Thinking Affects Your Brain

• People who reported that they worry 50% of the time or more showed a significant disruption in their ability to sort objects when the difficulty of sorting increased.
• The thalamus is responsible for sending sensory and motor signals to the rest of the body but it does not understand that negative thoughts aren’t the same as real danger.
• Stress from negative thinking creates changes in the brain that may affect your likelihood of mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, schizophrenia and mood disorders.

Rejoicing and being thankful

The word ‘Rejoice’ occurs more than 240 times on the Bible, and there is a reason for that. God knows how rejoicing and being thankful helps all parts of our body and mind to keep illness away. It removes stress and unnecessary worry, it makes us smile MUCH more, it takes pressure off our liver and other internal organs that get upset when chemical changes take place.

Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:”

how we think about ourselves really makes an impact on the rest of our lives. This is so true because we seem to fulfil prophecies in our head, whether good or bad.

So they may as well be good! What do you think?

Ecclesiastes 5:3 “For a dream cometh through the multitude of business, and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.”

Often when we have failed, we have just failed to start working on our plan. Whether that means writing a book, or doing a family genealogy tree, losing weight, being a better version of ourselves, or even reading the Bible through in a year. We just make some steps and then start stepping them out. Small steps are better.

JIMMY SPITHILL? What a comeback!!

• Aussie sailor and 2 times America’s Cup winner (BMW Oracle)
• Capsized their yacht months out and had little chance of being ready
• They put in 24-hour shifts to get the boat ready, but then came the ‘Cup’.
• They were 8-1 down but didn’t give up. Having absolutely hopeless odds did not stop them.
• They kept their cool, clawed their way back…AND WON!!!!!!!!!!
• After that, in 2017 skippered maxi-yacht Comanche to win the Sydney-Hobart winner.

Whatever you are battling, your negative thoughts can be reframed and your aims redirected. This will provide the basis for overcoming most obstacles.  Start today!!!