The Power of Positivity
Seems easy right? Just think positive, they say….
The term “the power of positivity” is severely overused, and yet the concept of actually taking it to action is arguably one of the most underused out there! In a day and age of having all the latest news at the tip of your finger, it seems like bad news absorbs us. Did you know that for every three minute of “bad news” watched, listened to, or read each day, you loose 15 minutes of your day to the negative reaction your brain takes to it. Think about that for a second, think about what that means if you watch only just 30 minutes of news showing a high speed chase, or some kind of tragedy? Don’t, get me wrong, it is very important to know what is happening in the world and to take your position and stand firm. The “bad news” here is the unnecessary negative messages that take over our day when instead we should spend more time building each other up and try to affect things we can actually change instead of dreading the things we cannot.
People I think we can agree that this is not a new concept, but do you know where it came from?? We here let me enlighten you! In the 1800’s a watchmaker who was fascinated with hypnotism, Phineas Quimby, was the first person to see the results and start to research the concept based on the results that were coming from his practice of mesmerism. He then took his interest one step further and became the apprentice of a famous French mesmerist and traveled New England learning the trade. Beyond that this concept was a curiosity for many but it was not until 1952, that Norman Vincent Peale wrote a self help book called “The Power of Positive Thinking: A Practical Guide to Mastering the Problems of Everyday Living” . It turned out to be a great selling book to allow people to “affirm and visualize” and gain an optimist attitude. This would be the beginning of many scholars and theologians interpreting the power that you gain over your own well being if you only just take a positive approach!
So if this some what ancient idea has been around for centuries and many people have dug into how to “do it”, how to “apply it”, and how to “gain this perspective”, why cant we get it right or geez why cant we seem to most days not apply it at all? Truth is agree or not, as humans unfortunately our knee jerk is straight to “worse case”. And so, this is exactly why people are still trying to perfect it!
So we have touched on the what (what is this concept?), we have touched the who (who introduced us to this?), and we have touched the why (why is it so hard for us to connect well with this concept?), so now what??? No not WHAT, but what do we do now??? We need to strip this down a bit more. If our natural mind pattern is see, hear, speak and go straight to BAD, worse case, on no Chicken little the sky is falling, then we seriously need practice changing that. Also taking it a little further this is not a new thing we are dealing with, in fact decade after decade humans have been trying to master the power of positivity and in each decade humans were faced with hardships and loss and a multitude of trials to overcome. From ship wrecks to plagues to war and to COVID-19 each decade has a series of negative interactions to navigate!
Ok, let’s jump into how we can start going about implementing this into our daily lives. First of all let’s get one thing clear, you get to choose each day how you feel, how you will act, how react, and what your attitude will reflect. This is a proven fact and when you think positive not only do you feel uplifted but it is shown in many studies that it actually help boost your health and helps your work ethic!! Yay!! So how do we go about this in our everyday life?? Ever heard of “you are who you hang out with”? It’s true!! Step one, make sure that the people you are surrounding yourself with are positive and encouraging! Another simple yet most people find actually tough to do, remind yourself to focus on GOOD things no matter how small the GOOD thing is! Or how about stepping away from your human instinct and do something nice for someone else!! Use trigger words and phrases throughout your day to yourself that trigger the positive energy! And finally (there are plenty more but let this boost you to find more!), stay in the moment, stay present, and be grateful. The chosen attitude of gratitude will allow your brain to shift from panic and fear, to calm and steady to create a space for the power of positivity to enter your life regularly!
In a world of scary events, fear driven media, and negativity it is so important not only that we are aware of how to project positive attributed into your own life and in turn project it into others and your community! It is as important as ever to stand firm in your beliefs and for all of us to stand firm together. Take a minute today to inspire someone, do an act of kindness for someone, love yourself more, encourage each other, support your people, and allow the positivity to flow!!
