How to Stay Positive in a Negative World

3 Steps To Help You Stay Positive

In a world full of negativity it is hard to find the positivity. We rarely hear happy news in the papers and on the television. We only hear about who killed who and a bomb went off here, and of natural disasters. The world surrounds us with negativity, so how to we move past it, how to we find the sunshine after the storm?

Step #1: Always be looking for the "silver lining". 


Sometimes it is very hard to find, but it is always there. There have been situations in my life where I had a lot of trouble finding the silver lining. For example, one day I found out that I had lost my job. I wasn't just let go, I was fired and the person that fired me was very cruel about it.


I was barely able to hold it together. I grabbed all of my things and left and finally broke down into tears when I got to the car. I called up my Mom and told her that I thought my life was over and didn't know what I was going to do. She said "It wasn't a great job and you know that you can find a better one, you can now claim this job as experience on your resume and you will be able to find something better." At that time, I couldn't even think past that moment. After hearing what my Mom said, I realized that there really was something positive coming from this experience. Even if an experience is awful and hard to deal with and overwhelming, you will learn from it and take away everything that you can from it. Find joy in everything you do. There is always a silver lining somewhere, you just have to be strong enough to go looking for it.

Step #2: Don't Sweat the Small Stuff 

People have a tendency to let small stuff bother them. For example, maybe you get upset when a Barista doesn't make your coffee beverage correctly, or maybe someone accidentally bumps you in the hall, or maybe you get upset every time someone talks in an elevator. All of these things are tiny. Way worse things can happen to you. Don't sweat it, just let it bounce right off of you. You have to remind yourself that things could always be worse and your coffee not being made the way you like it one day out of the week is not the end of the world. Take a deep breath and just let it go. The more of the small stuff you can let go, the easier time you will have thinking positively and keeping yourself calm in high pressure situations. 

Step #3: Appreciate What You Have

We often take what we have for granted. Maybe your life isn't exactly how you imagined it would be. Maybe you thought you'd be living on your own private Island living in a castle by now. Well, that is probably not the case and that's okay. Look at what you do have. What things are good in your life right now. Focus on those things and be thankful that you have them. I have a great life and people around me who care deeply for me. I often get so caught up in the day-day stresses of life that I forget how blessed I am to have friends and family who care about me, a roof over my head, food to eat at every meal, and the time to work towards my goals. Make a list, right now! What things in your life are good? Post the list in a place that you will see it every day, add things to it, and constantly remind yourself that you have good things in your life.