No one is immune to experiencing tough times in life, but how we deal with them can make all the difference. Learning how to stay positive during difficult times is a key life skill that can help us get through a lot in life and its challenges. In this post let’s go through some tips to help stay positive and more resilient during tough times.
Sometimes when we feel down, it can be hard to remember the good things in our lives. But with abit of practice and know how to stay as positive as possible when things get tough. We can find that it gets easier to manage our day with a more “can do” approach!
A positive mindset isn’t just about a silver lining, but it can actually help us stay healthier, live longer, and keep off heavy stress ladders more successfully.
However, what nobody talks about, is how a positive mindset can shift our entire perspective, even when we have negative news and are surrounded by difficult times.
So let’s discover some of the ways to stay positive even during challenging times.
Positive Thinking Tips
Many of us already know that positive thinking can also act as a helpful motivator.
It helps us build more meaningful relationships, keeps us open to opportunity, and even reduces stress and anxiety.
Let’s discover some of the techniques in which we can redirect any negative thinking for the benefits of our own mental health and wellbeing.
Put simply, waking up each and every day and making the decision to view life with a more optimistic outlook, can change our entire perspective in life, even if we are surrounded by negative people which can also include our family.
One option is to try a more pragmatic approach and see if something like hypnosis audios could work for us.
Imagine how much more successful life could be, and what great improvements in our mood could happen if we tried something different and it actually worked? As they say you never know if you don’t try, right?
Another option, we could try is to take a walk outside for at least 10 minutes, and see what difference it makes to our own mental health.
A third option might be is giving meditation a go. It’s a great way to calm our nerves, relax the body and keep us at our optimum levels of positivity. It has been proven in studies that meditating regularly can help with stress levels, maintaining overall health and improving mental clarity; it’s an excellent practice for anyone who wants to keep a few of their emotions under wraps!
However, we all know that life can be challenging on a regular basis and consists of ups and downs.
Things are going to get tough, relationships, careers, and family matters, even the COVID-19 pandemic, all difficult at times, and this can impact our own mental health and stability in life.
We might not be able to control what happens in our lives but with a positive mental attitude, we can take the initiative and manage our destiny as much as possible with a confident direction and more resilience.
It’s not what happens to us in negative situations that we can change, it is our reaction toward those circumstances that steers us toward a particular emotional frame of mind. When we behave from our emotional mood, that doesn’t always give us the best results, right?
So when we redirect those thoughts and view from a positive angle, we learn how to become patient, tolerant, and less reactive, which in turn gives us more solutions and favorable outcomes in life.
The connection between positive thinking and developing emotional maturity is proven in studies.
In one study, some Psychology students in Medan University, it was shown that a positive attitude accounted for approximately 24% of emotional growth in the group studied.
The Problem With Positive Thinking
As a society, we must stop putting the weight of constant positivity onto our lives.
Imagine being positive 100% of the time. Think about how that would appear in an argument with your spouse, at a funeral, or when you are sacked from your job.
In fact, psychologists routinely split daily emotions into 4 broad categories. These are:
• Happiness
• Sadness
• Anger
• Fear
Which they believe we feel every day in different proportions.
So we can allow ourselves for those days when positivity just doesn’t seem to be possible. Human beings are not made to be positive 100% of the time.
However, that doesn’t mean we can’t try and give ourselves a bit of extra time to implement a positive attitude as much as possible throughout our day, for the sake of our own mental health and wellbeing.
We just wanted to reiterate that sometimes, it’s OK to be sad and reflect.
How To Stay Positive During Difficult Times
How can we stay positive during difficult times when we feel our “happy state” is being challenged?
Here are some tips on maintaining a hopeful and optimistic attitude when faced with tough times and bumpy rides.
By turning your home into your own private and peaceful relaxing space, you can eliminate many of the stressors and troubles that go on outside of your nest.
You can even create a sanctuary outdoors, where you feel like your in nature.
The small space that is yours alone to enjoy and call home. Somewhere you can ground yourself and connect to mother earth (take your shoes off and feel the difference.)
Remember, there are various ways to “soothe and stabilize” those negative emotions once you enter your home space.
We all want to rest, relax and leave it all outside once we enter our doorstep and not bring that energy into our own personal sanctuary.
Decorating – if you want to make a special area in your home feel more peaceful, try decorating it with calming colors. These calming and soothing colors can enhance your feeling when practicing a self care routine, especially when times seem tough and overwhelming.
You can learn more about building positive energy home, here.
Mindfulness can help in so many areas of our lives. If we start to use it routinely, implementing a mindfulness plan when times are tough can help us maintain that positivity and happy energy level, that we’ll need as a booster.
Mindful Movement For Inner Peace, Guided Visualization
For example, setting aside 15 minutes per day to meditate can help us overcome an exhausted and overworked mindset. Bringing back the body and mind to a balanced state of being.
It can reduce our stress levels, lower our blood pressure, and help to focus on the present, all with the aid of mindfulness meditation.
It can be really easy to slip into negative thoughts when times are tough. One way of ensuring our mind stays positive and on track with what’s good in life, is to try practicing gratitude by listing all the things for which we’re thankful for!
If we are struggling at work, for example; expressing gratitude that we still have a job and regular income, helps with staying positive, as it lowers the anxiety and negative thoughts and protects our mental health.
Likewise, a day where we bump our car is a day we are lucky enough to come home safely to tell our family all about it, (as opposed to being in a bad car crash ending up in hospital or worse.)
A day where we fight with our loved one, is a day where we have relationships worthy of fighting for.
And a day we lose someone is a day we celebrate their life. Remembering all of the love, good memories, loveable and funny traits we may have picked up from them, keeping those memories alive, knowing these will be cherished forever throughout generations.
It’s not always easy to spot the things we can be thankful for, so this is where a journal with prompts comes in handy. It’s a great reminder and keeps us accountable on maintaining a healthy and positive mindset.
Use science of positive psychology to improve happiness
Just 5 minutes a day
Thoughtfully designed prompts
These Five Minute Journals come in different colors and options you can choose from
It’s not even always possible to see any positive aspects to our life, in times of rejection, anger, frustration or adversity. But if we can train our thoughts and redirect them gently toward positivity, maintaining consistency for long enough, these new thoughts become our normal way of thinking.
Many people prefer to keep these new thoughts going, as they give more happiness, resilience and better results in life.
Learning these techniques for positive thinking allows them to kick in automatically when needed in difficult times.
Positive Thinking Exercises
If you want take control toward a more positive mental attitude in your day to day thinking patterns, then try the following techniques.
Negative Positive Thoughts
One way to make positive thinking normal, is to balance every negative thought we have with a positive one. Look at your list and see which thought actually makes you feel better?
Since we’re all creatures of habit, it can be helpful to catch that thought next time around, and intentionally redirect it onto a better feeling thought instead.
Before you know it, your new thought patterns of staying positive, will boost emotions, mental health and improve sense of oneself.
Internal Monologue
Every time we catch ourselves having negative thoughts about our body, personality, or appearance, always re-frame that monologue with grateful and loving ones instead.
Don’t be afraid to correct and improve that inner voice that is always looking for a negative in something or anything really.
Identifying Triggers
If certain things make you feel or think negatively, catch yourself, notice it and this is where you interrupt that thought and grab it while it’s there, and intentionally steer it in the right direction.
It’s worth taking a moment to be mindful when we think about steering these thoughts toward better feelings.
It may not seem like much, but even that little smile can help us in our day-to-day lives!
Another way to stay in a more happier mind zone, is spend more time with positive people.
These small acts will allow us to monitor and manage what our triggers are as we listen to the things that are go on inside of us.
When we can manage them better in negative situations, we can live the best version of ourselves.
A positive mindset and a happier outlook on life, is definitely achievable, even if we are facing difficult times.
Keep in mind that there are times when it’s alright not to be alright, but it also gives us a chance to reflect, examine and ask the question… could anything have been different if we thought about it differently?
So start with some baby steps. Correct just one negative thought for one whole month, and see if this makes a change for you?
Learn how to instill those healthy new habits for a healthier mindset, and get more favorable results in life.
Wishing you a happy and positive day today, and keep that smile going.
Disclaimer: Our web pages and blog posts provide general information for general purposes only and not to be used for any medical, legal or alternative health advice for any type of physical, mental health or financial concerns.Always speak to your practitioner before embarking on any new alternative treatments. If you have concerns about any medical matters, you should always consult your healthcare provider without delay.We thank you for taking full responsibility for your own health and wellbeing in life. ☺
