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| Andes; Cusco, Peru |
A HUGE part of getting healthy, is making sure your thoughts are positive. It sounds easy, right? I bet many people don't realize how negative they really are. How many people use the term "F my life" or "I just can't" or "I'm not doing enough" or "I'm terrible at this."
What about...
"I hate the way I look in this dress"
"I don't like my [insert body part here]"
"I shouldn't have eaten that brownie for lunch"
Even saying "I want to be a writer" when someone asks you what you want to do with your English Degree isn't thinking positively. If I said "I'm a writer," now that would be positive.
Healthy, positive thoughts are so important to us as writers. We swim in a world of rejection a lot. I even had a dream about sending a query off and being rejected in like two seconds. It's hard and it will be harder if we let it bring us down.
Now, I didn't just magically decide one day that I needed healthy thoughts, or that my thoughts were unhealthy. This has been a learning process and don't think for a second that all I have are perfect thoughts because...man, it's hard to change how you think. Once you begin though, you'll start becoming hyper-aware of where negativity comes from and it will make you feel icky. Then you'll realize where you picked those thoughts up from (maybe your mother or your father? Teachers or other influential characters in your life). You'll start to tell those negative thoughts "no!" and feel better for it.
Changing our thoughts allows us to attract positive things in life because we're finally not focusing on the bad. It's a good exercise for anyone.
Start by turning one negative thing you say about yourself into a positive one. What would you change?
Healthy thoughts are really hard for a lot of people. It took me forever to finally give myself permission to even let myself think things like "I like______" about anything I'd done. You have wise words here.
ReplyDeleteThey are difficult, but the reward is so well worth it! I never knew how negative I really was with myself until I started watching what I said. Thanks, Rena!
DeleteI've got a long way to go on my healthy thoughts. The crazy thing is, I hear people say negative things about themselves and it gets me ruffled, yet I will talk to myself so horribly. It's a tough cycle to break. Glad you're changing it!
ReplyDeleteIt is a tough cycle to break! My most challenging week was the second one, but it's getting so much easier, and I can see the improvement in myself and it's wonderful!
DeleteGreat post! It sounds like such an easy thing to do, but it's difficult for many people to say something positive and mean it. If my mood gets down, I try to list off all the good things about my life. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Christine! And that's a great thing to do when you're feeling down! I'm going to practice that more often.
DeleteAwesome post. I am trying to turn all of bad, negative thoughts around. I didn't realize how much I put myself down until my girls started doing it and I got really upset. I do everything in my power to build them up not realizing how I talked about my own self was bringing them down. Very eye-opening and humbling thing to have happen I can tell you. But now that I realized what I was doing, I am putting an end to it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jay! When I began to ask myself why I thought badly about myself, I immediately thought of how my mom viewed herself. I've read time and time again that daughters learn to think of themselves as their mothers do. It's so awesome that you realized what was happening and have decided to stop the cycle!
DeleteContent is the greatest source for expressing your feelings, throughts and precious time. Your post is fabulous and very meaningful.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anna! :)
DeleteOh my gosh... I STRUGGLE with this. SO MUCH. Such a great post, Ashley. I definitely would change all the self doubt I have. It's something I have such a hard time conquering! I wish I could just fully believe in myself without that little voice that is always battling with me!
ReplyDeleteI struggle with self-doubt, too, Morgan! I'm learning to stop the negative thought and replace it with a positive one. It's very difficult, but it will be well worth it when I don't think so negatively anymore. You're awesome, Morgan! :)
DeleteThis is a very inspirational post. As an aspiring author, I'm used to thinking about my work in uncertain terms, such as using "maybe I will/maybe I will not" phrases. I like the idea of being definitive, as in simply saying, "I will complete my manuscript." Just some minor language adjustments can go a long way.
ReplyDeleteI must admit I'm a bit of a "look on the negative side of life" person, and yet I consider myself overly a positive person. I guess it's just my sarcasm coming through in my everyday utterances that gives the negative impression.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy with my life, even if I'm not thrilled with the current status quo - just dying to move house and get out of the mire of chaos I'm in!