Maintaining a Positive Attitude

One of the challenges that I have found after getting yourself on an upward mood swing is to somehow maintain that positive momentum.  

Often times what happens is that life and circumstances grind us down until we are happily miserable again (AKA back to “normal”) . . . Why is that?

I have found in recent days that what happens, at least to me, is that something will trigger an angry outburst and a rant of some kind. This is full of angry, negative energy and is disastrous to your positive mood and mindset.

Often times, and this is the most insane, is that what I find myself ranting about is something happening somewhere far away, which has no impact in my life. Some world event or decision by the government domestic of foreign will set me going. 

None of that will impact me directly, or, for that matter, could I possibly change, should I wish to. Why, I ask you, should I ruin my mood as I turn the air around me blue? The answer, of course, is that there is no reason whatsoever. 

I like to stay informed on current affairs and what is happening in the world. If you wish, I’ll sit down and discuss any number of world topics if you wish. 

Even more, if I had a chance to fix things, sure I’d give it a go to set the world right. As yet, nobody has asked me, so I will continue to mind my own patch of problems as I wait for the phone call from the UN.

What I am leading up to is that I have found in recent days how to deal with this eventuality and quickly pull myself out of a mood nose-dive.  

While it may sound a bit corny, it works, at least for me. I tell you now, not so you can get a laugh, but in case it might do you some good too. 

What I do is first of all I notice that a rant is starting and that I am getting angry. Second, I quickly assess if there is a legitimate reason that I am getting angry. As in, is something happening that directly impacts me? If so, get angry, vent then calm down and deal with the situation. 

If the reason that I am getting angry is not legitimate, (as in the price of world oil, or the fact that a certain business man keeps edging towards becoming the next US president) I do the following. I stop myself from ranting, force myself to calm down by repeating “I am not accepting this negativity!” 

It may sound silly, and perhaps it is, but it is my way of reminding myself that a lot of what I was getting angry about was nothing that impacted me at all. 

Even the things that did impact me that I was getting angry about, turned out to be not so big a deal, or easily solved problems. As in there are a thousand other places to park.

Why this is important is that like small success building on one another to set yourself up for a pattern and expectation of success, so to anger and negativity will build on one another to set you up for a pattern and expectation of negative and hurtful things. 

Trust me, you will see the worst in people and expect that: people, things, the universe, and even yourself will sabotage everything you do and make you fail. This is not a happy place to be, trust me. 

So, give my corny little routine a try and see if it doesn’t help brighten your mood. A positive attitude does wonders for your ability to handle and solve real problems, the ones that you actually do need to deal with and solve.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!