LETTING GO OF NEGATIVITY AND LIVING A MORE POSITIVE LIFE

I am sure we have all unintentionally allowed negative energy to infiltrate our space on some occasion. It comes in many forms and only becomes aware of its impact when it is completely free of it.

One of the best gifts I have given myself is to have a (mostly) positive mindset. I say mostly, because I do my best, but nobody is perfect. There are times, usually when I let my guard down, when I have allowed negative energy or thoughts to enter my life and, if you want my honest feedback on those moments, they have been the absolute worst.

SHIFT FOCUS

Have you ever found yourself focusing an abnormal amount of energy on others? On what others do? On what you don't have? I would say that this is the easiest way to allow negative energy to enter your life without even realising it. I learnt about the telltale signs on my own, at first I tended to ignore them, but a dearest friend helped me a lot to realise. I used to get angry over trivial arguments, I was convinced that I was not understood and this made me lose my temper. it used to happen very often. Before I even realised it, I was losing my temper even before breakfast time, texting and debating stressfully at the phone and that even could upset me for the rest of the day.

It took months before I realised the impact it was having on my concentration - as it is a form of stress, being irritated is not good for you, we all know that. So I immediately took a stand: for me it is much more productive to discuss important issues in person, I no longer want to be tied to text messages, which are unable to decode our state of mind or how a person really wants to express themselves.

PROPORTIONS

I am a HUGE overthinker and obviously these fits of anger when an argument came out made me a first-rate drama queen. Sometimes I tended to overdo it, sulking for many hours or even days... pride is something that has to be kept at bay from time to time.... You create tension where tension is unnecessary and in a short time you create a situation that should never have happened. At first it seems like a small thing, but in a short time it affects many areas of life or work. You start to dread situations and say no to things that you would normally do on the fly, to avoid uncomfortable environments.

The internet certainly didn't help me as a distraction... on social media the drama is something I don't like at all. The shadow, drag and general nastiness that we daily see spreading online has created a culture where we actively seek it out or feel it even when there is no substance.

I speak only from experience, but I cannot emphasise any better the relief you will feel when you silence this filthy voice within you. Most of the time it is misunderstandings, overthinking and life in general that have led to that point and talking about it, letting it go and moving on has a profoundly positive impact on your state of mind. A friend of mine taught me the drawer method: imagine an ornament made up of several drawers. Each of them corresponds to thoughts in order of importance, from the highest to the lowest. When we get angry for trivial reasons we tend to put all those thoughts inside the top drawer, because at that moment they seem to be the centre of the universe in terms of importance. But their place is actually in the bottom drawer, the drawer of futile things.

Try to train your mind to think this way, this will help reduce stress and negativity.

NEGATIVE INFLUENCES

*Life in’t as serious as the mind make it out to be*

Ekhart Tolle

Unfortunately, there are people in the world who are simply negative. Most of the time, they simply have not yet realised what most of us have done with this mentality and will eventually see the light. From the friend who feels the need to compete about everything, to the one who has nothing positive to say about anything or anyone. Sometimes it is better to give them some space because, as much as they are your friend, you have to protect their positivity and hope that they can change their mindset in their own time. This does not have to be a drama, there does not have to be a big fight, an argument or unnecessary stress. Sometimes you can simply walk away and know that it was for the best.

POSITIVE PRACTICES

I always think I have my positive practices in place, but then something else comes along that has a huge impact on my daily life. But it is the very principle of the universe, for every action there is an equal and opposite one. We will always have something working against us in our daily lives.

Eckhart Tolle in his book 'The Power of Now' teaches us to focus on the feeling within us, to recognise that it is the body of pain and to accept its existence. Don't think about it, don't let the feeling become thought. Don't judge and don't analyse. Do not identify with it. Stay present and continue to be the observer of what is happening inside you. For the moment you start observing the part of you that thinks, a higher level of awareness is activated. Then you understand that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought and that thought is only a minor aspect of it. You also understand that the things that really matter arise beyond the mind. And you begin to awaken." This is the fundamental principle of Mindfulness.

Another thing that has had a massive impact on my daily positivity has been changing my health and fitness routine; Changing things and trying new things has been a godsend and if there is one thing I could tell anyone who is experiencing negativity, it is to increase your focus on health, move your body, eat better, maybe it won't eradicate the problems completely but I assure you it will do wonders for your wellbeing.