As a person who isn’t really a positive thinker, I’ve come to realize that to think positive takes more than a breakthrough, it takes consistent and conscious practice. Mind you, I never thought of myself as a pessimist. I prefer, realist.
As I started working with a coach more than couple of years ago, I realized that I was wrong. As soon as I started sharing my thoughts, he pointed out - do you realize how you construct your thoughts? It’s always geared to what could fail, what could be wrong, how hard things can be and what people might think.
Part of the exercise I was tasked to do was writing these down and writing a positive version of it. It was hard. It took me long time to turn a single negative statement into a positive one.
From the coaching and learning about mindset, Law of Attraction and a whole bunch of how our thoughts directly affect our life, I’ve started to think positively.
Over the last 6 months, I was very positive. I was very conscious of how I reacted to things. Even if it was something negative, I was able to not succumb to reacting negatively. I was able to calm myself down and look at things in a different light.
But last week, there it was - whether it’s the “dip” that people talk about or probably my old self coming out, I lashed out. Don’t worry, I didn’t break anything. I was short-tempered, exhausted, irritable and reactive. Alla noticed it and called it out and usually that’s all it takes. Oh but I wasn’t having it. It just made me angrier.
So in one day, I went from irritated to angry to massive self-doubt to crying my eyes out because everything was just wrong. I needed a break. So I did what I usually do - take a nap. (Yes, this works like a charm for me.)
When I woke up, I was still feeling bad but better. I apologized and reflected.
As a person that’s not naturally positive and if there’s anyone out there like me, I want you to know that it’s okay.
At one point, all the negative thoughts and energy will just burst out and it’s okay. It’s your mind and body letting it go. What’s important is for you to reflect and recognize the signs.
Once you do, take a break. Do something relaxing. Allow yourself to not be well put together. Do something that will makes you feel happy.
Then reflect. This is an important step that most people skip but it will help you learn, grow and move forward.
Just remember this, you can’t always be “perfect.” Not every single moment will be a positive high. The low points and the dip will come and it’s okay. It’s okay to take a break.
It’s okay to acknowledge that you need to rest.
You are moving forward. You are doing great and you will be fine.
