Staying Positive During Negative Times

Practice Self-Love

Remember this: Loving yourself first is anything but selfish. If you don’t, who will? Practicing self-love is about knowing yourself down to your foundation and understanding what you need to rebuild your positivity. I know for me personally, sleep is about the only thing that really mends my positivity. Having the time to process and rest really helps reset myself for the next day. Although, there isn’t always time for sleep, or you may need to stay positive at a time when sleep is not an option. 

You may enjoy a hot beverage, taking a walk in the sunshine, meditating, doing yoga, playing a game on your phone, scrolling social media, talking on the phone, or simply unplugging from it all. To practice self-love, you must first find the activities you love the most. If you don’t know, start trying some things out. What makes you feel good? What makes you feel like you can take on the world? Make time in your day for those activities. Do not neglect yourself. To be your best for others, you must first be your best for yourself. 

Employ Empathy 

Empathy. It’s hard to explain and even harder to teach. If you have it, you know it. If you don’t, you need to learn. Emotional intelligence is necessary for our current times and the times of the future. Essentially, empathy boils down to this: being able to recognize another’s emotions and feel them as if you were in their same position. It’s more complicated than that, but for those of you that are still working on this I hope this definition helps. 

If you feel a situation you are in becomes negative, or you find that you are surrounded by negativity, ask yourself: Why? Why are people negative? Why do people push their negativity on me? It’s because they don’t feel positive inside, and that is something we can (and should) have empathy for. Showing empathy for those who might be mean, icky, or just all around not fun to be around is one of the best ways we can keep up our positivity. Don’t sink to their level and add to the negativity. Instead, be the light that lifts them up and continue to share your positivity. 

Two additional notes on empathy: 1) Don’t take things so seriously. Sometimes people just have bad days, but that’s not a reflection of you. Sometimes people have hard lives, but that’s not a reflection of you. Some people are just bad people, but that’s not a reflection of you. You need to learn to let things roll off your back and have empathy for the other’s situations. 2) If you feel the weight of empathy start to drag you down (this is for you, fellow empaths), re-read my self-love section. Being an empath means you fully take on the emotions of another, sometimes finding it difficult to separate your own emotions from theirs. When you feel this, practice self-love and remind yourself that you don’t have to take on the weight of another. 

Slow Down

When you’re faced with a negative situation or are experiencing a lot of negativity, try to slow the moment down. Negativity can sometimes force us to act irrationally and without thought. When you feel your emotions begin to boil over from negativity, slow down and remind yourself to not take things so seriously. Employ some empathy for the moment and work to add positivity back into the situation. 

The Law of Attraction

“Think positive and you shall live positive.” I love the law of attraction: the idea that what you put into life is what you get out of life. Even during negative times, keep putting positivity out there. Never cease to be the beacon of hope in others’ lives. You never know what the positivity you put out could do for another, even just one, human being. Remind yourself that life has peaks and valleys, and if you are in a valley right now there is only one place left to go: up.

Conclusion

Hate only breeds more hate. The best thing we can do for our world right now is to stay positive and keep fighting for what we believe in. One last note for you, do not be hard on yourself if you cannot remain positive all the time. It’s not plausible, or even fair to yourself, to expect to be positive all the time. The best you can do is, well, the best you can do! Work hard everyday to spread a positive influence. It all starts with you. Because if it’s not you, then who?