There are essentially two ways of thinking about things. A glass can be seen half empty, or half full. Our mind tends to focus on what is missing. Yet, dwelling on the bad side of things often ruins our lives ... In this article, learn how it is possible to work on it and train our minds to see things on the right side.
These negative ideas that ruin our lives
Did you know ? Research has shown that those who think negatively tend to have more health problems than positive thinkers.
Negative thoughts increase sensitivity to pain, and also have the effect of reducing cognitive function, as shown by an experiment published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology in 2006.
Not only does positive thinking help us to have a better life, but it can actually improve our health.
We all have negative thoughts without even realizing
Whether we are aware of it or not, our brain produces about 70,000 thoughts a day every day. And you only have to spend ten minutes watching them to be surprised how negative you can be.
How could we prevent ourselves from having these thoughts if we are not even aware of them?
The answer: train your brain!
1. Reprogram your brain
Whatever some say, thinking positively is not about "seeing life in pink"! This is not based on ignoring problems or hiding them.
Positive thinking is:
- Address problems as challenges that life throws at us and try to make the best of each situation. Ask yourself, "How to make the most of this situation? What is positive about this situation? "
- Cultivate optimism. To consider the small bits of existence as isolated incidents and not as serious mistakes on our part.
2. Letting go
"May I be given strength to endure what can not be changed and the courage to change what can be changed, but also the wisdom to distinguish one from the other." -Marc-Aurèle
- Realize that there are things we can not change: we can not change others or situations. The only thing in our power is to change the way we perceive and change ourselves.
- Divert his attention from what disturbs us in others. Focus on yourself and become better.
3 ∙ Share good news with people around us.
It is essential, to benefit from positive changes in our life, to stop complaining. It's not that difficult. For that, it is enough for:
- Become aware of everything that comes out of our mouth and focus our attention on it.
"When you walk, you are careful not to walk on a nail and hurt your foot. Take care to prevent the passions from offending your reason, which must be the rule of your life. If you use this precaution in all your businesses, success will be foolproof. »- Epictetus
- Talk only about all the good things that have happened to us and stop talking about bad things.
Forcing us to pronounce only positive words forces us to look for the positive in our mind, our experiences and our emotions, and to focus on it.
4∙ Gratitude
"The practice of gratitude can have dramatic and lasting effects on a person's life. - A. Emmons, professor of psychiatry at the University of California Davis Medical Center
- Every day, just spend a few minutes thinking about things you're grateful for, and put them on paper.
Focusing on that, if only for a few minutes a day, can dramatically increase our happiness, our well-being and even our health.
5∙ Make good for evil
Our life would be metamorphosed if, instead of thinking of all that people do to us and of all the injustices we experience every day, we seek to:
- Forgive. Accept that others are different from us. After all, we all make mistakes.
By forgiving, we free ourselves from a heavy burden.
6. Create new habits
In order for a behavior to be transformed for us into a habit, it must first be for a certain time:
- Practice a conscious and constant effort. Focus all our attention on our goal.
Until it becomes reality, week after week ...
