7 Ways To Defeat Negative Thoughts
It is easy to fall victim to a whirlwind of negative thoughts, especially if we have accumulated a lot of them and generated an inertia that affects first of all the filters we use to process information.
The thoughts we are talking about can add up to each other, like a small snowball that, if allowed to roll down a mountain, grows out of all proportion. Similarly, a small and harmless thought, born in this way, without infamy and without glory, can end up becoming a huge colossus that contaminates all our emotions, our behaviors and our other thoughts.
Like the ball that forcefully falls out of control, bigger and faster, negative thoughts drain our energy and take away our strength. And the more we give in to them, the stronger they become. Just as it is more difficult to stop the snowball after it has rolled several meters downstream and increased in size, the same is true for a ball of negative thoughts that has already begun to rotate.
Life puts us in front of challenges, many times without giving us respite and without taking into account the resources we have available. Having negative or defeatist thoughts is normal in such a situation. However, feeding them, memorizing them or even pursuing them worsens the quality of life and contaminates the image we have of ourselves. Why should we reduce our self-esteem in this way?
Negative thoughts in some cases torment us and, in many others, affect our attitudes. They can make us despair when there is no reason or even lead us to throw in the towel when, for resources and skills, we still have a lot to give. In short, negative thoughts usually condition our choices and not really for good.
So why do we feed negative thoughts if we know they harm us? The problem arises when the first negative thoughts arise and we do not treat them properly. In short, when the ball is small and has not yet contaminated everything it touches. For example, some people cure negative thoughts, or rather the anxiety that comes with them, by “ransacking” the refrigerator. A strategy that usually generates further negative thoughts, in this case with respect to one’s ability to self-control and to one’s body.
So how do we get rid of this negative thinking? In fact, negative thinking cannot be completely avoided. Sometimes negative thoughts are just a glimmer in our mind. When this happens, we must be aware of them, in order to recognize them immediately and, in this way, understand when we are thinking in a negative way.
The following strategies will allow you to defeat negative thoughts and will make it easier for you to think positively.
2.- Reconsider any issue you are ruminating on: ruminating is an excessive form of thinking. When we mull over something, we do it convinced that we can solve it only by thinking about it more. Which, on the other hand, is generally useless. Before looking for a solution, it is necessary to dust off what really characterizes our thoughts and discard what we have created ourselves in our brain. Do not be surprised if, after eliminating the fantasy, you will find that you have no problem, except what you have created yourself.
6.- Repeating positive affirmations when you thought negatively: negative thinking is usually a learned habit. So instead of letting yourself be pervaded by the usual negative thinking, get used to thinking positive in certain circumstances. To remember and reinforce it, you can always keep it with you, written on a piece of paper, in your clothes, at the bottom of your computer or mobile phone screen, or even on your own skin.
7.- Remember that no one is perfect and turn the page: it is easy to dwell on one’s mistakes. But you can learn from them and move on. No matter how much you ruminate, nothing will change. And, if what awakens your negative thoughts is a weakness or a deficiency, focus on your strengths or virtues. If you cannot change the past, try to make the best of the future.
Negative thoughts are fleeting and temporary, unless we want to make them eternal. They have no real power, but they can do a lot of harm if we give them the opportunity to grow. A thought has no other power than what we give it. Negative thoughts become more incisive if they are enabled. Defusing them is, however, a difficult task: it is no longer a thought, we are talking about a dynamic.
Everyone is responsible for the world in which they manage their thoughts. It is not relevant that the thought appears: the important thing is that you can stop it and that you create an appropriate context for it to be reduced. The key is to spot such negative thoughts before they have a chance to settle in your head and make allies.
