Fighting Negativity

This came out of a conversation I've been having with my brother and sister, and I just wanted to share...


Negativity can be found almost everywhere you look, and that makes it that much more difficult to overcome. But the good news is that we have a choice - we can allow it to overcome us and make us miserable (like I did for so long), or we can strive for happiness in our lives and fight it. I now choose the latter. People feel differently, but to me, life is for living, not just existing - and is far too short to spend going along with the grain of what popular society dictates. In my depressive state (I struggled with depression for 11 years before I was able to realize that I needed to get help, and spent another year and a half or so in therapy and on medication before I overcame it), I became a huge victim of apathy, and I was so numb to everything that I used to just go along with whatever was going on around me just to "save face" or "blend in". Now, although I still have my days, overall I refuse to go down without a fight. The war will go on, but I take it one battle at a time. Even when I lose (and I've lost my share), I know I gave it my best shot, and in that respect, I actually won. I'd give anything to have realized this 10-15 years ago when things started going downhill, but I'm thankful to know it now.

Also, as people, we have an incredible tendency to be influenced by others - spend time around someone in a negative mood without putting up any resistance, and just notice how we "naturally" jump into the pit with them eventually. Here's the funny thing - and I encourage you to try this - focus on something that makes you happy, I mean REALLY happy, and go against the flow of society by not allowing negativity to overcome this joy in you. Do this on an ongoing basis, and believe it or not, you will eventually rub off on others, too. If nothing else, someone will start to wonder, "dude, what's up with you anyway?!". Moods, attitudes, and people in general are a funny thing - they can change in the blink of an eye, but only if/when we allow the change to occur in us. The line between negativity and reality only becomes blurred if we allow ourselves to believe that it is. Society has no power over us to do this, we do. By consciously choosing to focus on the positive, no matter what that thing may be, we have the power to break the cycle.

I share these things with you in the hope that they will encourage you. It certainly doesn't mean to be naive and think that life will be a bed of roses - that's just stupid! LOL...Tough times and negativity will happen, and we of course shouldn't blindly just ignore them. By the same token though, we don't have to take these things lying down. A long time ago, Mom posted something on their fridge that has stuck with me, to the effect of, "Life is only really 10% what happens to us, and 90% how we deal with it - it's all in our Attitude". I'm also reminded of the t-shirt my sister once patched when she was younger that read, "Dare To Dream". These things encourage me, even now, all these years later. :)

Thanks for reading, and God bless,
Chris