Positive takes Practice

Having a positive attitude does not mean never having a bad day.

I experience shitty feeling emotions like every other human being, despite the fact that my innate compass always points to the bright side.

I am allowed (like all humans) to experience and express anger, frustration, sadness, disappointment, and all the rest of the messy, uncomfortable emotions that are part of the human experience.

Having a positive attitude does NOT mean I never get down.
Having a positive attitude means I never have to STAY down.

Sometimes it takes longer than others to pick myself up after being down, but my positive attitude ALWAYS gets me back up again.

Maintaining my sunny outlook also does NOT mean pretending to be happy about anything.  It means looking for the opportunity in every situation.  

When I experience challenging emotions, I look for an opportunity to learn.  What’s causing that emotion?  What about that situation felt challenging, angering, or frustrating?  What about the situation worked well?  How can I use what worked well as a foundation to build something more satisfying?  

I’m looking for a path that leads my vibration upward.

That part takes intention.  If my intention is to find a path that raises my vibe, I make the effort and I find better-feeling thoughts.  Without the intention to move higher on the vibrational scale, it’s SUPER easy to spiral downward with thoughts like, “Why didn’t that turn out like I wanted?  These things never turn out for me.  What a disaster.  I should have known it would fail.  Why even bother?” Without a concrete intention to reach higher vibrations, the current (more challenging) vibration naturally attracts more thoughts of the same vibe.

Recently one of my clients was delighted to give herself permission
to create a story about everything working out for the best, to replace the worry-filled story she had been creating about everything that could possibly go wrong.  It takes the exact same amount of time and energy to imagine wonderful things as it does to worry, and the results are incredibly different!

The following week she reported back that her physical symptoms of anxiety had decreased just by focussing on the better feeling outcome – even though the actual “outcome” of her current situation had not yet been reached.

When I catch myself in the cycle of worry, I remind myself right away that since nothing has yet unfolded, anything is yet possible. I try to release the story of worry by reminding myself that anything can happen – including the best possible outcome. Sometimes I even journal about the best possible outcome in as much detail as I can imagine. It feels good when I write it out, and if I start to worry again, I use it to remind myself that anything is still possible!

Grow on!

What story are you currently telling yourself?
What do you worry about on the regular?
What will change for you when you change the story you are creating in your mind?
What story would you rather believe?
Try writing out the best case scenario and see how it feels when you read it back to yourself!