Negative Thinking
Thinking Negatives: Repetitive negative thinking increases unhealthy stress which negatively impacts one’s metabolism, hormones & immune function. Permanent & habitual negative emotions increase your risk of depression, dementia, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, stroke, digestion disorders, cognitive & memory deficits. Learn to identify & decrease your negative thoughts for a healthier life.
Responsible Thinking: No matter what anyone says to us, we are responsible for our own thoughts. Others may trigger our emotions, but it is up to us to decide what to do with the emotions. Negative emotions like, fear, anger & frustration, become problematic when we become victims of our thoughts. Taking action to resolve these emotions is the first step for being responsible for our own thinking.
Energy Drain: Negative emotions can decrease one’s enthusiasm for life. Examples of negative emotions are anger, anxiety, boredom, depression, disgust, emptiness, failure, fear, frustration, guilt, helplessness, hostility, hurt, inadequacy, jealousy, loneliness, overwhelmed, resentment, sadness and shame. The more time one spends thinking about negative emotions without taking action, the better one gets at being upset & complaining about oneself &/or people in their lives. Spend less time ruminating over these emotions & seek help to break the cycle of negative thinking.
Negative Patterns: By listening to mind-chatter (self-talk), one can discover negative thought patterns. Some patterns are Filtering (filters out all positives & focuses on the negative), Personalizing (self-blame), Catastrophizing (one negative incident taints the entire event/day), Blaming (blame others/uncontrollable life events), “Should”-thinking (blame yourself for not doing what you think you should be doing), Magnifying (making little problems bigger than they are), Perfectionism (failing to meet self-imposed standards) & Polarizing (incidents are good or bad with no middle ground). Identifying negative thought patterns can help with improving the way one thinks.
Practice Positive: Like any habit, consistent practice is the only way to get better. Select an aspect of your life that creates negative thoughts & start with small steps to change the way that you deal with it. Put positive spins on your thoughts throughout the day and leverage humor to release the stressful & negative thoughts. Destress with exercise, healthy foods, sleep & relaxation. Surround yourself with positive people & be kind to yourself as you work through the practice of becoming a positive thinker. And, if needed, seek professional advice to help create a plan to address the negativity.
Mind/Body Connection: Our thoughts impact how our body functions. Optimizing our bodies impact how our mind functions. Treat your mind & body as one entity as they are inseparable.