If I have to be honest, I would say that I have so many negative thoughts in one day. My negative thoughts accompany me all the time wherever I go and I really can’t help it. Stress= 90% negative thoughts which makes me a very stressed person.
Google told me to relax, exercise, meditate, sleep, and chill, but those negative thoughts are like waves, they come and go and there is little you can do about it. People say that negative thoughts are due to fear of failure, poor self-esteem and lack of positivity in life. You see I’m not a pessimist but I tend to be realistic and prepare myself for the worst. There is a mantra that says ‘positivity attracts positivity’ but what is the guarantee that when you think positive only good things will happen? And if not, how do you train your mind to cope with something you didn’t expect? Therefore, isn’t it wise to keep all options open and to be realistic?
The reason I’m talking about negative thoughts is that they can do more harm than we think: depression, panic attacks, mood swings to name a few. Did you know that negative thinking is the number one cause of chronic depression? Everyone has negative thoughts, even if people rarely talk about them because, in this fast-moving era, that’s pretty “normal”. I’m amazed at the way some people cope with it but for some, negative thoughts can eat away at them.
I recently saw a YouTube video which personally inspired me to share with you a great way to stop negative thinking from affecting you. In short, it is important to accept that the mind is full of thoughts, that can be positive or negative but it’s all normal. You are not the mind but you have a mind; it’s like you are the ocean but not the waves. A thought is just a thought, you bring it to life by the attention you give it. Stressful thoughts are like a knock at the door and you keep letting them in or say that you don’t want them to come in, and that’s what makes them louder.
The more attention you pay to negative thoughts, the more they multiply. Hence, stop trying to control your thoughts and they will go away. Don’t react, resist it, label it or create a story around it. You will feel them but they will pass. But don’t try to touch them or follow them, the thoughts will dissolve by themselves – as long as you don’t feed them – into the nothingness they really are.
