< Go Back How to stay positive during the grey days of November Posted: Oct 31, 2023Coming
after the unusually warm and sunny days of late summer, autumn this year seems
particularly cold, damp and bleak. The
whole world seems to be in turmoil and we can’t even turn up the central
heating or huddle in front of a cheerful, warm fire without worrying about the
fuel bills or air pollution. All in all
it can seem pretty difficult to stay happy and on top of things.
Lots of
Self Help books will tell you that ‘you need to stay positive’ or that ‘a
positive attitude is critical to success’ but this isn’t very helpful if you
don’t feel positive and your
immediate situation is marked by real loss or a lack of much needed resources. Trying to always stay upbeat and happy in the face
of undeniably unfortunate circumstances can make you feel a bit of a fraud.
Fortunately
there is a secret to becoming both as genuine and as positive as possible in
spite of everything you may be facing. A
secret to the way in which you can be true to yourself and at the same time
reap the rewards of what people call a positive attitude.
And
that secret is to develop the habit of moving from ‘problem’ to ‘solution’ as
quickly as possible because true positivity is not so much a matter of outer
behaviour but of inner focus.
This
might sound overly simplistic. But if
you think about it, so-called ‘negative’ people are individuals whose focus
remains solely on their problems without ever moving to solution. They complain about their situation and
proclaim that things will never get better but they never shift their attention
to how they can resolve their problems to make
things better.
Sometimes,
of course, the solutions to our problems are not immediately obvious. That’s why, in order to apply this approach to
positive thinking, you first need to be committed to the belief that wherever a
problem can be identified a solution can be found. The secret is to choose motion over emotion. Give yourself the time you need to process and
define your problem but deny yourself the self-destructive luxury of wallowing
in it. Instead, maintain a focus on the
outcome you really want and keep moving towards it.
No-one
can be happy all the time, especially when life gets rough or sad things happen
and, indeed, it isn’t even healthy to try. But we can always decide to move from problem
to solution as quickly as possible. Having
that habit will not only ensure we experience the maximum amount of joy in our
lives, but also that we set a truly positive example for others to follow.
