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Take a vacation
By Anne Davis, for e-KNOW
Feeling tired and dragged out? Does the weight of the world feel like it’s on your shoulders? It could be that you need a vacation… from your patterns of thought.
Are you an optimist or a pessimist? Or a realist? Your thinking could be more negative than you realize. The best way to determine the predominant tone of your thoughts is to pay attention to the self-talk that streams through your mind on a daily basis. How many of your thoughts relate to self-protectiveness, defensiveness or justification of why you said or did something? Common forms of negative thinking include blaming yourself when things go wrong, anticipating the worst, seeing things as either black or white with no middle ground and focusing on only the negative in a situation.
Does a positive attitude yield a happier life? Research has shown that keeping a positive attitude is a key element in handling stress. Other benefits include better resistance to illness, lower rates of depression, better psychological and physical well-being and better coping skills in times of hardship. A positive attitude allows a person to feel better about life in general which leads to a happier, more productive state of mind. Have you ever noticed how you feel around someone who is full of negative comments and woes as opposed to someone who is in a happy mood? Don’t you gravitate toward the person who is laughing and upbeat and don’t you want to run away from the person whose voice is growing harsh as the complaining continues? Which of these people would you prefer to be?
A key element in fostering a positive attitude is taking inventory of every good thing that is already a part of your life. Make a list of what makes you happy, include things that make your life easier and make it a point to add to this list every day. Appreciate your loved ones, the sunrise, the birds chirping, a crisp autumn day or the comfort a beloved pet brings you. Revel in the fact that you can feel, see, taste and smell. Retrain yourself to look for the good in everything and to downplay the bad. Although it may seem bleak at the time, the bad things will eventually fade away. Teach yourself to believe that you will find solutions and everything will work out in the end. Learn to relax about things. Surround yourself with positive thinkers, their attitude is infectious! Accept yourself for who you are and where you are in life. Take a vacation from thoughts that make you feel worse than you need to feel. Pamper yourself, feel good about yourself and cut yourself some slack. You deserve it.
Nobody ever gets to a place where everything is perfect, so appreciate the world around you as it stands right now. Learn to live in the moment; life is too short for regrets.
“Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth
“You owe me.” Look what happens with a love like that,
It lights the whole sky.” – Hafiz (14th century Persian poet)
Anne Davis is a writer, blogger, artist and photography buff. Born in Quebec, she now lives in Kimberley, BC where she is editor of and contributor to the City of Kimberley’s Active Community Guide and webmaster for the City’s websites.
