The opposite of negative

An internet friend has put me onto a very good thing.

The concept is to recognize and record three positive things that occur every day, for at least 30 days, thereby forming a habit of acknowledging that good things do in fact happen. The positive things can be external, like a beautiful day or something in nature, nice things that happen between people, events that are enjoyable, and of course, personal accomplishments. It’s not a particularly new idea, but it flies in the face of most schools of therapy and certainly of the prevailing point of view in today’s media.

It’s not enough, as a colleague of mine says, to “quit your whining”. We need to be open to seeing the good and nice; to feel good about ourselves and our environments. Because, when all is said and done, we have it pretty good here and now. I doubt there would be many people in so-called “developing countries” who would disagree – a lot of them are trying to be just like us, or to come here and live among us. Just imagine how much better it could be if we could invoke a POSITIVE self-fulfilling prophecy.

This doesn’t mean putting the blinkers on about bad things that happen to us or around us, or evil and corruption which occurs all too often in public office. That wouldn’t be sensible; we need to recognize and deal with those things too. The danger is that focusing exclusively on the negative actually damages one’s health and mental well-being. Whereas the positive thoughts can exert an opposite, beneficial effect, helping us cope with the negative and strengthen us in counteracting it.

I’ve been doing it for nearly a week, and I can already feel the difference. This could become a permanent habit. Finally, a good habit! Thank you, E.P.