Negativity is very common in our 21st century way of life. Although it is incredibly debilitating and destructive, negative thinking has become our culture’s everyday norm.
Negative people can be very difficult and challenging to be around. They seem to notice only the negative aspects of anything that is going on around them. They also point out the negative possibilities of anything that could change things for the better. They even joke sarcastically about other people who are making an effort to improve themselves.
Negative energy has become so common that many people think it’s just the way life is. Often it doesn’t even occur to them that their own negativity is keeping them stuck right where they are, with no way out and no hope for a better future.
Living with Negative Energy
All of us have experienced people in our lives who carry a negative energy around them. Sometimes they talk constantly about what’s wrong in their lives, sometimes they create pain and negativity for others through negative behavior and sometimes they just give up on life and isolate themselves.
Negative people often don’t have many friends. Rather than looking at themselves to see what they could be doing that pushes other people away, they blame other people for not feeling loved and accepted.
On-going negativity often results in mental health issues like stress, anxiety, depression or poor self-esteem. People who are experiencing these issues often don’t realize that their negative thoughts and behaviors are actually contributing to their challenging symptoms.
Where Does Negativity Originate?
People become negative when they have been hurt, neglected, abandoned, traumatized or abused and never had the opportunity to resolve or release their feelings. Their unresolved feelings are translated into an expectation that their future will be painful and traumatic like their past. Often they also feel like nobody really loves them and nobody cares about what they’ve been through.
Negative people believe that there’s no point in getting their hopes up that something could improve in their lives. They’re afraid that if they open themselves up to be vulnerable, they will only be hurt or traumatized again.
How Can You Stop Negative Thoughts?
If you are a negative person, there are many ways to stop your negative thoughts. The most simple technique is just to begin paying attention to what you are thinking.
When you become aware of a negative thought, imagine that you’re looking at a computer screen and hit the ‘delete button.’ Then you can simply replace the negative thought with a positive thought that you would like to program into your mind.
You can actually program positive thoughts into your mind by affirming them to yourself over and over again. As you continue affirming positive thoughts on a regular basis, over time you will change your negative thought patterns to positive ones. I saw a Tweet on Twitter recently that said “A belief is just a thought that’s been rehearsed over and over again.”
If you have been deeply hurt in the past, however, you may need to delve deeper and do some Emotional Healing to heal the situations that originally caused your hurt and pain. When you work through the hurt and pain from those experiences, it becomes much easier to change your current negative thoughts to positive ones.
Developing Faith
It’s very freeing when you can actually begin to believe that your life could be better than it is today. But don’t be alarmed if that task seems insurmountable to you right now. If you have lived with negativity for many years, you will need to be very kind and patient with yourself in the process of changing your negative patterns.
You can develop your faith in a positive future by doing Emotional Healing to release the pain of what has happened in your life. It’s also important to begin nurturing a belief in a Higher Power that loves you unconditionally and wants you to be happy.
When you experience the Higher Power working in your life through Emotional Healing, it becomes much easier to trust that the Higher Power will also guide you and support you to fulfill your dreams.
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Have you dealt with on-going negativity in your life?
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More Information:
For more information, you may also want to read some of Kari’s other posts:
10 Tips for Creating a Better Life for Yourself
The Surprising Health Benefits of Laughter
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100 Best Psychology/Self-Help Books
