Positive Thinking Positive You!

​

What does happiness mean to you? Happiness is described as a state associated with feelings of satisfaction and joy. But happiness does not mean that you are free from suffering, stress or negative emotions. Happiness just shows that you view your life as good, and fulfilled. Many define happiness as feeling content with the way they live life and where they are heading, holding themselves in high regard, being satisfied with simple things like relationships, having many areas of your life fulfilled, or looking at setbacks as an opportunity to grow.

 

Changing negative thoughts into positive ones:

​

•    Recognizing the areas that you need to work on to have a more positive mindset you need to identify the negative parts in your life. Get in the habit of writing down immediately when a negative thought comes to mind. Try and identify a pattern and challenge yourself to find the root cause of your negative thoughts. 

•    During your day look at what you’re thinking. If you find that you have negative thoughts try to find a way to change them into positive ones. For example if you're feeling down and overwhelmed about the amount of work you have to complete before the end of the day challenge yourself to think on the feeling of accomplishment you'll have once the day has ended instead of the amount of work you have to complete.

•    Surround yourself with positive people, with people that give you helpful advice.

•    Practicing positive talk is also a great way to achieving happiness. One of the suggestions that help many people is: Don’t tell yourself anything that you wouldn’t tell someone else.

 

Tips for maintaining happiness

 

Having a goal set in mind

​

Having goals and following them is one of the ways to increase happiness. Many psychologists have found that happiness can be achieved by challenging yourself to activities. By challenging and contesting your mind to achieve a goal can be very rewarding.

 

Conserving healthy relationships

​

Having a strong relationship with positive people is important to maintaining your emotional and mental wellbeing. Being able to identify when relationships are having a negative impact on one’s wellbeing and having the ability to make it right can greatly increase the feeling of happiness.

 

Living in the now

​

Spending time thinking about the past or focusing on the future can get you in a negative state of mind and cause dissatisfaction. Being mindful encourages you to focus on the here and now and be happy with today without the worry of past or future events.

 

Practice appreciation

​

Appreciating the small things in life can significantly increase your positive mood. One way to do this is to practice being grateful and appreciating people for the little things they do. Whether it be writing in a journal or expressing appreciation towards others on a daily basis. Sometimes just a simple smile will do to express your appreciation!  

 

Get help when you need it

​

If you’re feeling overly stressed, sad, or overwhelmed, you might need to ask for help. Sometimes even the strongest among us have difficulty in asking for help but often this moment of vulnerability, of self-realization, can make all the difference. 

 

A negative outlook can’t be changed overnight but if you practice eventually self-talk will include less negativity and more positivity. When you have a positive mind, you'll find that you're able to handle stressful situations with greater ease and move in the direction of happiness. Be prepared, a positive you will soon emerge!