Positive Thinking: How To Use It For Daily Benefit

Positive thinking is something that has been mentioned many times, but can sometimes be misinterpreted. Is it possible to be so optimistic?

As Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist who survived the concentration camps in World War II, said: “if it is not in your hands to change a situation that causes you pain, you can always choose the attitude with which you face that suffering ”.

Certainly, we cannot avoid the most negative or traumatic events, much less the emotions that we feel. However, positive thinking tries to make us understand that you can always get ahead and even learn from those experiences.

The worst storm is the one that forms in our mind

We tend to underestimate the power of our mind. But the thoughts that predominate in it will make us face our days with energy or apathy.

How many times have we woke up thinking that we are going to have a horrible and heavy day, or that we have to face a complicated situation and we will not be able to measure up? How many mornings have we worried about the future?

We have surely experienced this on occasion and the consequences are palpable. We wake up grumpy, wanting to stay home and not wanting to see anyone. However, we must meet our obligations.

This could lead us to be tense, irritable and give bad answers to those around us. Negative thoughts haunt our mind and we are not able to release them. This happens because we do not stop feeding them.

The negative thought loop

Why do we get into a negative thinking loop? Because it is the easiest. If we ever looked at how many times we complained in just one day, we would be surprised.

Sometimes we catch negativity and complaints from other people. Watching television and news full of disasters informs us about what is happening in the world, but it also brings us a lot of negativity. However, we can make up for all of this.

The other option, positive thinking

Have we ever detected a negative thought and transformed it into a positive one? This is an excellent exercise to clear our mind of all the negativity that is in it.

Positive thinking is not putting on a pair of glasses and seeing everything rosy. This is not real. However, it is very important that we become aware that we should worry about having more positive than negative thoughts in our mind.

The reason is that this will allow us to feel good, confident, motivated and full of energy. It is not something easy to achieve, but being aware of this that we have indicated is already a very important first step.

Exercises for positive thinking

We have already mentioned an exercise we can do to start introducing positive thinking into our lives. However, there are some more, even practices that can be really rewarding, such as mindfulness, as indicated by research published in 2017 in the journal Papeles del Psicólogo.

To meditate

Meditation allows us to connect with the present and, most importantly, to observe our thoughts. In this way, we can be aware of them and let them flow without holding them in our mind.

However, one of the greatest benefits of meditation is that it makes us aware of the here and now, helping us to relativize problems, allowing us to let go of the past and helping us to stop worrying about the future.

If we make meditation a habit, little by little we will feel better and positive thoughts will have a greater hole in our mind. The negatives won’t go away, but we won’t hold onto them.

The emotional diary

Although the option to change negative thoughts can work, even the act of saying “enough!” Whenever one of these thoughts is haunting us, it is a very good idea to keep an emotional journal.

The reason is that we can go back to that diary and really see what kind of emotions we feel, how much negativity there is and if it is justified. In most cases, we will find that we are too pessimistic and this will urge us to change.

Many times we forget the little things that are around us and that make us happy. We tend to look for an idealized happiness when, in reality, it lies in balance, in taking care of ourselves and in taking advantage of each day by experiencing it with our five senses.

Have you ever stopped to analyze if there are more negative thoughts than positive thoughts in your mind? We encourage you to start introducing positive thinking into your life. In any case, remember that the best thing you can do if you feel down is to go to a psychologist or psychiatrist, who can offer you personalized attention.