For several years I’ve majored, so to speak, in saying No to Negativity. I don’t watch the news, read newspapers, and whenever I’m with someone, either in person or on the phone, if that person drifts into negative talk, I get antsy. I feel my soul begin to shrivel up.
Philosopher Ernest Holmes wrote: “Refuse to see the negative….” This is how I’ve tried to live. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t.
Why is it easier to go to the negative than it is to be positive? Perhaps it dates back to the primitive mind, when acts of nature begot a god that was harsh and judgmental. But now, science has an answer for us, even a name: entropy. Entropy is a measure of unavailable energy. The theory is that in a closed system, available energy diminishes, such as a person with a negative viewpoint. Negative people or events just suck the life out of us, if we’re not careful! Have you noticed? This is why it’s easier to get down in the dirt with someone when they’re complaining, even if it’s just about the weather! And, oh, wait until they start on their health! Ever notice how a person wants to give you a blow-by-blow account of their latest catastrophe! That old saying, “Misery loves company…” how true! That’s entropy!
But there’s hope! Science also gives us syntropy, which is the psychological state of wholesome association with others. This is why it’s so necessary to resist negativity…to just say NO! to negative people or news. When we refuse to look at negativity, when we make a concerted effort to stay positive, we enter into a state of syntropy…a psychological state of wholesome association.
There is a school of psychology devoted to syntropy, and to positivity. Aptly, it’s called Positive Psychology. There’s even a neurosciencitific study of the effects of positive and negative emotions on the brain. People who study positive psychology and the neuroscience of positivity on the brain claim that positive people live longer and are more healthy. Enough reasons for me to want to be positive!
How do you resist negativity? How can you be positive in a world geared more toward negativity?
I have a friend who developed a way. He’s a psychologist. He developed something he calls UpSpiral for Life. He teaches how to become more positive on a daily basis by using something else he calls the Emotional Gym. By repeating the words, Peace, Love, Joy, Hope and Gratitude frequently throughout the day, we teach our minds and our brains to become positive.
When I first began to practice the Emotional Gym, I was at a low point in my life. Nothing was going right and I couldn’t find a way out. As I practiced the Emotional Gym, repeating the words Peace, Love, Joy, Hope and Gratitude….and feeling the emotions…I began to feel more positive. I began to see results…things got better. I noticed even people with whom I interacted were more positive!
I taught a class based on my friend’s UpSpiral for Life. For 20 weeks, we met, did the work, practiced the Emotional Gym. Lives were changed. People in the class became more positive. They began to see the results of being positive in their lives.
You can Just Say No to Negativity. You can train your mind to be positive. Being positive is a habit. Neuroscientists say that habits cause ruts in our brains. The longer and more ingrained the habit, the deeper the rut and the more difficult to change. But habits can be changed. The Emotional Gym can train our minds to be positive. I believe it, because it happened with me. And it can happen to you.
I invite you this week to take a look at your life. Are you a victim of negative thinking, of negative beliefs? If so, you can change! Are you already a positive person? Wonderful! And you can get even better! I invite you to Just Say No to Negativity!
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