Challenge: Be Positive, Be Thankful Charity: Operation Restoration Total £ accrued: £4 Positive Thought: “Sometimes in the waves of change we find our true direction.” – Unknown
The Third Challenge: Being Positive & Thankful Continued…
“If you had £86,400 in your account and someone stole £10 from you, would you be upset and throw all of the £86,390 away in hopes of getting back at the person that took your £10? or move on and live? You would move on and live! We have been given 86,400 seconds in each day. Don’t let a negative 10 seconds ruin the rest of the 86,390! Life is bigger than that.”
That was a quote that was given to me one morning by Ryan, I’m not sure who originally said it but what a powerful concept; it shook the very core of me. Because not long before it, I was doing exactly that- allowing a negative moment ruin my entire day!
I started the month with high expectations, feeling that I would be prepared to transform every negative moment into a positive one. After all, every cloud has a silver lining right? I don’t know what it is about life, but it has a way of humbling you when you confidently say “I’ve got this one”, and this month has been no different. Life will never meet you with the expected, and even when it does, you still won’t be prepared for it. Hint: Tiredness is NOT your friend when you are trying to be positive, and to those who can relate; watch out for hormones – they’re a bitch.
Positivitity & Thankfulness is not a short term fix, a solution to a problem or a formula for success. It is a way of life. To live this way you have to change your mindset and that takes time.
Having said that, here is my 3 step formula to success (the small print: this probably won’t work, I will not take responsibility for any negativity experienced as a result of following my 3 step formula to success, if it does work, I will take full credit)!
1. Identify the source of negativity in your life.
Is it driving? Is it work? Is it your relationships? Then, for me, it was a matter of asking myself “What can I do about it?”. Because to be positive, I believe we need to surround ourselves with positive energy. I chose to listen to music at work to help deal with any day-to-day pressures. I also listen to music in the car which I find I can’t help but sing along to – even in traffic. I also chose to post something positive and inspiring each day on social media (which you can follow using the buttons at the bottom of the page).
“How to stop time: kiss. How to travel in time: read. How to escape time: music. How to feel time: write. How to release time: breathe.” ― Matt Haig, Reasons to Stay Alive
2. Train yourself to react differently.
This one is harder; it’s about unlearning negativity. It’s about understanding that positivity is a choice that you can make. I have this strange thing where if something goes badly enough, I just don’t react to it. It’s just way beyond my control and there is a strange peace in that. Imagine if I could just scale it down to the smaller things and hone in on that ability to let go of things that are beyond my control, how much more zen would I be?!
One thing that I have come to realise though, is that being positive does not mean never feeling negative; but instead choosing to believe in and expect the most optimistic outcome. In negative situations, choose to see the bigger picture. Who knows, your messy life could end up being a work of art worth 2.54mil.
“Bless your challenges and they will turn into gifts.” – Diana Cooper
3. Always find a reason to smile.
I had a pretty shit day the other day where I did literally let that 10 seconds of somebody’s negativity ruin my entire day. I was feeling so low, and so fragile (and majorly emosh – like crying and everything). But there was one moment when I was driving home and it was raining like crazy and then the rain sort of mixed with hail and it was drumming on my car. And there was this break in the clouds where it was, for a moment, really flipping bright and sunny at the same time. And there was a rainbow, and the end of the rainbow was on my car! I was so happy, literally in that moment, so happy – I had never seen the end of a rainbow before! I mean, if you’ve seen my car, you will realise it is no pot of gold, but that was my reason to smile and be thankful for beautiful mother nature.
“When it rains, look for rainbows. When it’s dark, look for stars.” – Unknown
To finish things off, here is a motivational video that really inspired me.
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