How Can I Have More Positive Emotional Experiences in My Life!

Too many of us believe that our experiencing joy, love, appreciation, sense of wonder and awe, and every other positive emotional experience depends on others or something out there! That is the basis of our failure to be a more positive person. The seeds of positivity lie within us, not outside us! So how do we tap into the well of positivity that is there? Here are a few ideas for you.

The First step into positivity begins with perspective. Our perspective is a choice. When we look at our world, we can look for the good or the bad. As I write this, I can look out my window and see the weeds in my yard, the dents in my car, the rust on the metal chairs, and the dirt and grime on my driveway. Or, I can look outside and see the beautiful sunshine, the bright blue sky, and all the other beautiful aspects of the world around me! The choice is mine. What I look for in my life can be the gate keeper for my daily experiences. If I only look for what’s wrong, I will primarily find what’s wrong. Seeing beauty when I’m looking for ugly becomes nearly impossible. On the opposite end of the continuum, there exists a world where we can find beauty where others primarily see nothing but disaster and despair.

The Second step into positivity begins with practice. If we have habitually experienced what’s wrong with our world, we will continually look at the world through our negativity experiential perspective. To break out of this we must be intentional and mindful. To practice positivity we must establish a trigger that we can easily recognize and represents a very recognizable experience that says, “Hey, you’re looking at the world through your negativity lens!” As soon as you realize that you are using your negativity lens, choose to look at the same thing while searching for what’s right about this situation? Notice how your feeling changes when you’ve changed your perspective.

The Third step into positivity is to not give up. Being positive when you are a habitual fault finder is hard work. Because, when you try making any change, your natural psychological response is to preserve the status quo. Don’t give up. You are worth it!