7 Steps Towards a Positive State of Mind
By Josee Smith | Submitted On April 18, 2016
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Expert Author Josee Smith
Most of us have heard the saying: The optimist sees the glass half full, while the pessimist sees it half-empty. In its simplest terms, positive thinking is optimism and negative thinking is pessimism. It is an attitude towards life, yourself and particular predicaments and events in life.
Positive thinkers quickly zone in on the positive side of even the darkest moments in their lives, and often see those predicaments as opportunities for growth and learning. Positive thinkers are resilient and able to deal with stressful situations in productive ways.
"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine."- Anthony J. D 'Angelo
Becoming a positive thinker is not necessarily something that will happen overnight. Depending on the severity of the negativity, it can take time to make appropriate changes.
The practice of positive thinking, and making it a character trait rather than a one-time thing, takes effort, patience, and time. If optimism is not natural to you, there are ways to turn it around.
Work
Joyce Meyer once said, “A positive attitude gives you power over your circumstances instead of your circumstances having power over you”. Throughout times people have proven that positive thinking will help resolve a conflict. It is good to remain positive to eventually receive a good outcome. When a conflict arises the best way to deal with it is to keep a positive attitude. Many argue that a fight will quickly end a problem but problem but a good example that that is false is the story of Black Ships before Troy.In black ships before Troy they use war to solve their problems.people think that it won't really matter what attitude is presented in a problem. Many would argue that the one side of the argument doesn't care about the attitude about the other person/side..
I believe that in life you have to have a positive mindset on the things you do. Having a positive mindset will influence the things that you do. If you are constantly being negative then negative things will happen to you, but if you are positive, positive things will happen to you.
“‘...”positive thinking” is also a soft and fluffy term that is easy to dismiss...it carries the same weight as words like “work ethic” or “persistence”’(Clear). Positive thinking can help you through many tough situations. As victims of the Holocaust, both Anne Frank and Sophie Scholl displayed positive attitudes during their hardships.People can best respond to conflict by staying positive and seeing the brighter part in situations.
There are skeptics who believe positive thinking practices are a mere trend and wants society to stop encouraging it. Myth buster and author of Bright-Sided, Barbara Ehrenreich, goes as far as saying positive thinking has damaged America. In her book she comes down on positive thinkers insisting they need to be more realistic about the struggles that undoubtedly are coming into their lives. Disagreeing with certain peoples’ beliefs about the method of simply thinking goals into existence.
Thinking positively can be a difficult task, no matter the circumstance. When negativity fills you up like helium in a balloon you should always try to find the light in the darkness. Thinking positively doesn’t make the hard times disappear, it helps you survive negativity and the daily conflicts that challenge you. Looking on the bright side of things increases attentiveness, improves your ability to think, and leads to happier thoughts (Psychology Today). No matter what you are going through, you should always stay optimistic. “Man’s Search for Meaning” and “Dear Miss Breed” are great examples of how having a bright outlook can help you survive conflict.
For example, I attend college and I have to write this essay, struggling to get ideas out of my head. I always tell my parents that school is difficult and I want to quit college. They tell me this isn’t the right way to think of college, of course it will be tough, but it takes you to a better future. Without the knowledge of positive thinking, there would be so much negativity and people struggling to find definite answers to their own questions and concerns.
There are many different views on positive thinking whether it is to be positive all the time as suggested by the film The Secret, be a realist and don’t be delusional as stated by Barbara Ehrenreich in her speech “How Positive Thinking Undermines America”, or just be somewhere in between such as a person who is optimistic but not to the point where they expect something they want to come out of the blue, they have to work for it.
(Tracy, 2003, pp. 18,19) ” Positive thought are life echancing.They empower you and make you feel stronger and more confident while negative thought bring about the opposite.They disempower you and make you feel weaker”.Now,you can see,your mind is extraordinarily powerful because it is the main control of how you manage yourself. (Peale, 2003)Willian James said”The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind”.Its can make you feel happy or sad.Its is your life,You can choose to have a happy life or sad life.If you choose to have a
Positive thinking alone is not going to effectively help out the world to become better, thus people need to take actual support for the society. To put it differently, being happy for one’s own life is not enough, above all, one should take his or her happiness and use it to inspire others and to give back to the society. Actions that contains positivity can be small, but influential. Namely, it could be a smile; it could be being thankful and thoughtful for others; it could be generously giving and many more. Individual can do small action every single day and the accumulation of it could turn into something bigger and further powerful that one could not imagine. It takes someone to put themselves out there that will be a real
The concept of optimistic response or being positive is by no means ideal where you don’t experience negative emotions. Obviously, we can’t avoid negativity in our lives; bad things do happen always. What matters is the rate of positive to negative emotions over time. We have to be sure that we have more than enough positive experiences to counterbalance the negative ones. (Carbrera, 2010)
The term 'positive thinking' is overused in the modern day. The term, which was once used to refer to the discipline of reinforcing affirmative statements to manipulate one's mindset on reality, now has evolved into a purely subjective term where it can mean anything from a positive outlook on life to dangerous optimism on volatile issues. While the technique is purported to be a means of changing one's outlook for the better, there have been occurrences where the overindulgence in positive thinking has led to the demise of many. The United States, in the past has been accused of being a nation immersed in positive outlook and expecting issues to be resolved by itself. But the U.S should not be considered guilty of 'positive thinking' today
Positive thinking is generally more rational in its nature and will therefore more than likely produce a
It is safe to say that there is still a huge debate on optimism’s effect on a person’s physical and psychological health, and even though there are many studies that support this theory, there are still questions unanswered as to why pessimists have the outcomes they do. With all of the evidence demonstrated in these articles I read I have come to realize that optimism is very important in one’s life and
The use of positive thinking requires goal setting, so you can achieve your personal success. You will need to set goals that are truly realistic. Changes simply don't occur overnight. Your goal setting plan should also include a strategic map of successfully reaching your targets for your personal success.
Optimistic and pessimistic attitudes constantly affect the outcome of people's lives. In my life, I try to keep an optimistic attitude about the things I do because I know it will help lead me to more desirable ends. There have been many situations in which optimism has helped me through difficult times. Two areas in particular have provided me optimistic experiences: athletics