TEACH YOUR BRAIN TO SEE THE POSITIVE
As we travel along the road called life things will go perfect and then sometimes we have mishaps along the way.
I always think of this as if I am driving a car. I set a route in mind, and I know where I want to go. But, along the way, I don’t know if I may encounter some road works or a diversion and may need to take an alternate route. I also may have someone steering into my path that I need to be cautious of and perhaps brake to avoid them.
I still get to my end destination but not always exactly as I had originally planned or perhaps with added experiences.
How we interpret these experiences can affect us in a positive or negative way. I could choose to be extremely angry with the diversions and the silly driver and then my outing or destination is going to be influenced by my negative or angry mood.
Sometimes we feel that we are riding a high wave and everything is just great. But, there are other times when we feel that life is just not being fair. Everything just seems to be going wrong, one thing after the next.
In times like this, it is hard to focus attention on what is good. Our brains are wired to always see the bad things and especially in these bad times, we really struggle to find the good moments.
I am sure you have heard people say many times..” There is always something good that you can find in something” This is easier said than done if you are having a really tough time.
A good thing to practice is to start training your brain to notice or see positive things, no matter how small they are. This is like gym for your brain. When you are really having a bad day , then you are more able to dig into this resource.
I encourage you to try an exercise for one month, in committing to writing a few things down each day towards the end of your day into a journal.
Three things that you are grateful for.
Three things you did well that day.
At least one thing that you learned (could be a skill, something about yourself that you didn’t know before, or something about life)
The great thing about this, is that your brain will start to see the good as opposed to the bad. Also, when you are having a really bad day, you can pick this journal up and read it. This exercise is also a great Confidence Building habit.
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