Life is filled with having to use the good in bad situations. Do you notice that you tend to magnify the bad while letting the good pass right by? That is because bad situations have more of an impact on our emotions. Bad situations are a part of life that we can use to our benefit though.
Normally, when we’re in the midst of a bad situation, we tend to focus primarily on the negative, which is understandable.
However, in order to actually learn from the bad experience or to move forward from it, we actually have to take control over our thoughts and look at what role we have played in allowing this situation to manifest.
Of course, each experience would be different because we obviously can not control certain things that happen in life. We also have to look at how we could have approached the situation a bit differently.
When you’re going through something difficult, it’s hard to think positively. If you’re already feeling depressed or anxious, it’s even harder! You might have a hard time noticing anything good about the situation, or about your life.
Unfortunately, that puts you on track for a downward spiral. Thinking positively not only feels better than thinking negatively, but it also helps you find ways to improve your situation! Of course, it’s easier said than done.
Here are five steps you can take to start looking for the good things:
1.Accept the situation
Bad things happen a lot. Even to good people. The sooner you accept reality, the quicker you learn to move on. Accepting the situation is also what helps you look at the bigger picture. There will be both ups and downs in your life and the sooner you deal with the downs, the quicker you can get to the ups.
2.Assume Positive Intent
Whatever happens, there’s usually a positive intent behind it from the offending side. People usually mean well and the bad things are communication errors and accidents.
Judge others’ behavior by the intention they had. People usually mean well, but sometimes circumstances lead to adverse outcomes.
Judge your own actions by result. If you did something that turned out badly, then you are responsible. Always look for what you could have done differently.
3.Having a Positive Attitude
Having a positive attitude in any stressful situation will be beneficial. Get up after you get knocked down. People with positive attitudes get up right away!
You’ll be more focused on how to surpass the challenges rather than dwelling on the negative. Anyone can complain or find what’s wrong. Few people can focus in on finding a solution though.
Instead of feeling bad about yourself, you seek ways on how to win the situation. Do you know the quote “Grow through what you go through”? It’s the perfect little saying for situations of stress.
4.Look at the Big Picture
When you get to a low point in life, always realise that this is really just one low point. Your life is thick book while this is a mere page, or perhaps a paragraph in one. Most things happening to you now likely won’t matter a year from now. There’s no point in being upset over something with only short-term effects.
5.Reframe
Even though the situation is hard, is there something you have learned from it or some other silver lining? If you could go back and change the original thought, what’s a healthier thing you can say to yourself? For instance, if you’ve just lost a loved one after they have been extremely sick, does it feel healthier to think about their death as an end to their pain?
CONCLUSION
Changing your mindset can really make a huge difference because it will cause you to start seeing the bigger picture, and you’ll be able to differentiate between the things that are important versus the things that are not.
Don’t get us wrong, there are always going to be days when you feel bad. Nobody’s saying that you should put your bad thoughts away or that you should not be allowed to feel down or negative about anything, ever. That’s absolutely not the case, and you wouldn’t be human if you didn’t have days like that.
The truth is, holding onto negative emotions just does not benefit you in the long run. It’s not healthy to constantly sit and wallow in the negative thoughts and things that are going on around you. Be grateful for the small things that are good, and you’ll find that you’ll soon start to attract more of those same things that you want to receive into your life.
