Negative thoughts make a hell out of heaven. By contrast, positive thoughts make bad times bearable and good times better.
Practicing the techniques below will release you from negative thoughts and leave positive ones in their place.
Decide
Make
a decision to be happy. By virtue of this commitment, you’ll find
yourself naturally selecting behaviors that increase happiness, such as
positive thinking. You won’t have to micro-manage every word and action.
Remind
Create
a way to remind yourself when you accidentally make negative remarks.
The age-old remedy is to snap an elastic band on your wrist.
Re-frame
Instead
of trying hard not to think negatively about something that you don’t
like, find a positive viewpoint, commonly called re-framing. You won’t
become a drooling idiot with no sense of discernment. You’ll just lose
the negative reaction to unfavorable things.
Substitute
Self-development
guru Tony Robbins offers a superb exercise for substituting positive
feelings for negative ones. Imagine that you hold in one hand something
you really enjoy. Feel how happy it makes you. Give the feeling color,
shape and texture until you see it brightly. In your other hand, place
something that prompts a negative reaction. Pour from your happy hand
to your unhappy hand, over and over, until the negative feelings are
completely obliterated by joy. The next time the unhappy feeling
arises, if it does, it’ll be weaker. Repeat as necessary.
Challenge
Challenge
yourself to go 21 days without negativity. This game has been made into
a modern trend by acomplaintfreeworld.org, who sell purple bracelets
for the purpose. The bracelet is switched from one wrist to the other
if a complaint escapes your lips. When your bracelet stays put for 21
days, you’ve won a happier life.
have Fun,
Alan
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