The following information was adapted from 7 Ways to Get Rid of Negative Energy and Become Positive by Chris Talambas.1
Negativity affects ourselves and everyone around us. It limits our potential to become something great and live a fulfilling, purposeful life. Research has shown that people who develop negative energy experience more stress, more sickness, and less opportunity over the course of their lives than those who choose to live positively. Negativity affects ourselves and everyone around us. It limits our potential to become something great and live a fulfilling, purposeful life. Negativity has a tangible effect on our health, too. Research has shown that people who cultivate negative energy experience more stress, more sickness, and less opportunity over the course of their lives than those who choose to live positively.Although negative and positive thoughts will always exist, the key to becoming positive is to limit the amount of negativity we experience by filling ourselves up with more positivity. Here are some ways to get rid of negativity and become more positive.
Become grateful – for everything. When we begin to be grateful and appreciate everything in our lives – from the small struggles that make us better, to the car that gets us from A to B every day – we shift our attitude from one of selfishness to one of appreciation. This will make your life more fulfilling and more positive.
Laugh more – especially at yourself. Becoming positive means taking life less seriously and letting yourself off the hook. Are you sensitive to light sarcasm? Do you have trouble laughing at jokes? Usually, people who are stressed out and overly serious get most offended by sarcasm because their life is all work and no play. If we can learn to laugh at ourselves and our mistakes, life will become more of an experiment in finding out what makes us happy. And finding happiness means finding positivity.
Help others. The most basic way to create purpose and positivity in your life is to begin doing things for others. Start small; open the door for the person in front of you at Starbucks or ask someone how their day was before telling them about yours. Helping others will give you a sense of value that will transform into positivity.
Change your thinking. We can either be our best coach or our best enemy. Change starts from within. If you want to become more positive, change the wording of your thoughts. We are the hardest on ourselves, and a stream of negative self-talk is damaging to a positive life. The next time you have a negative thought, rephrase it with a positive spin. For example, change a thought like, “I can’t believe I did so horribly on this task” to “I didn’t do as well as I hoped to on this task. But I know I’m capable and I’ll do better next time.”
Surround yourself with positive people. We become most like the people around us. If our friend group is full of negative people who love drama, we will act like them and also become negative. It is very difficult to become more positive when the people around us don’t show positive behavior.
Get into action. Turn negative stress into positive action. The next time you’re in one of these situations, walk away and take a break. With your eyes closed, take a few deep breaths. Once you’re calm, approach the situation or problem with a pen and pad of paper and write out four or five actions to begin solving the problem. Taking yourself out of the emotionally-charged negative by moving into the action-oriented positive will help you solve more problems rationally and live in positivity.
Take full responsibility; stop being the victim. You are responsible for your thoughts. People who consistently believe that things happen to them handicap themselves to a victim mentality. Blaming circumstances and blaming others only handicaps our decision to change something negative into something positive.
Parents, you are your teen’s most important role model.