Staying Positive in a Negative World
It is truly possible to be positive in a negative world. The way I see it, the world is what I see in it & what I make of it.
I find that when I start my morning routine listening to the morning rush hour report, I already start upset and rushed. This is because I find myself needing to rush out the door right now in order to ‘beat’ the traffic. Take my coffee on the run & well, I’ll read that report during the traffic jams so I don’t waste time. When I get to the office, I feel like a rat trying to find a spot up front in the parking lot. In the elevator lobby I rush to the elevator to ‘beat’ that crowd that is coming behind me. All this before 9am. So of course I am going to be upset, rushed & negative.
This negativity stays with me all day. When I get home, my son runs to sit on my lap & all I want to do is ‘veg-out’ before dinner. I have stressed myself raw and now just want to be numb to the world. Staring at the tv allows me to zone out for a while just to recover.
What I saw missing in myself was peacefulness & clarity. Everything is hurry up & wait.
So I tried an experiment. I start my day differently. I already know that the morning commute will take about 1hr plus 15 minutes for delays. In the morning I get up with time to sit at the table & talk with my wife. My son kisses me as he is leaving to school and I am listening to a soft tune in the background. I saw that during that week I got to work on time, read my report at the table & even made it to the elevator without a mad rush. The day goes by peacefully & my head stays focused. On the drive home I listen to an audio book & clear myself of the day’s troubles.
The most important thing is that when I get home my son still wants to sit on my lap. But now I find that I can actually play with him & enjoy my time with him. My head is clear & I can focus on him.
What I did differently was change my mindset. What I focus on is what shows up in my life. If I create tension, worries & rush and that is what occurs throughout the day. BUT when I created peacefulness and clarity for myself, the days became just that – peaceful & clear. Even finding a parking space was not stressful.
So the way to staying positive in a negative world, is not to focus on the negative, but on the positive. Live life like you want it to be & sure enough that is what will show up for you in this world.