Wellness

[noodleann]

This kind of sums up my experience with all of it.

[catwhisperer]

NM

[mistriTsquirrel]

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@Moonchilde wrote:

I don't believe one's outlook on life should (or can be) "created." If it is, I don't think the person ever truly buys into it deep down, and knows they're faking it.

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@Moonchilde  I can see what you're saying, but I also think that life experiences affect how we see things.  And I think we can change some of our experiences, or find positives in a bad situation.

I'm kind of all over the place.  I think I'm usually realistic, but I'm often pessimistic and sometimes optimistic.  And the way I see things has been altered when I've crossed paths with certain people, or had certain experiences.  When it has caused positive thinking, it has been because I've been open enough to allow myself to see something new.

When my dad was sick I noticed that he never complained about it (well, not until the end, anyway), and I thought it was inspiring.  He would say that he was lucky he had access to good healthcare, and not everyone has that.  He was in denial about how sick he was, and that was part of the reason he wasn't complaining, but I chose to see it as a lesson I could learn from him about being strong and being thankful for what you have that is good.

It can be really hard to see the good in things though, so I don't blame people for having difficulty with that.  I often have difficulty with it myself.

[alliswell]

“When you say to yourself, 'I am going to have a pleasant visit or a pleasant journey,' you are literally sending elements and forces ahead of your body that will arrange things to make your visit or journey pleasant ....

Our thoughts, or in other words, our state of mind, is ever at work 'fixing up' things good or bad in advance.”  - Prentice Mulford

[cotton4me]

A couple of my favorite books that helped me with positive thinking:  There’s a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem by Wayne Dyer, and Every Day a Friday by Joel Osteen.  Both have great strategies and ideas.  I used many of the affirmations and thoughts each day, especially when I was working.  I underlined parts of the above books that I found helpful and would re-read them before leaving the house each day. 

One of my favorite affirmations in the Wayne Dyer book:  I can choose peace rather than this. 

When I was working I did everything I could to surround myself with positive thoughts and images.  I had a Louise Hay page-a-day calendar and a Joel Osteen page-a-day calendar which contained positive affirmations/thoughts for each day. 

I took a course in positive thinking which had the biggest impact on me.  It basically retrained my brain.  They taught meditation, etc.  I ended up with better health, among other things.   Of course, there are times when I feel sad.  My usual recourse is to pray, thanking God for all my blessings.  By the time I’m done I usually feel better because the blessings are endless. 

[KathyM23]

@Moonchilde

I like your reference to "realist".  Positive thinking is beneficial to our emotional health and we should strive to think positively as much as possible; however, as we know life is not alway positive.  We must face life realistically.  I am a "stick my head in the sand kind of person" so I can't take your advice to analyze worse case and best case scenerio as I would then think too much about what could go wrong, so I definitely need to practice my positive thinking.

I do try to keep my self talk positive, but definitely do a lot of slipping into the negative!

[alliswell]

[mistriTsquirrel]

I have the hardest time thinking positively when I can't get my mind to stop "cycling."  I have depression too.  When I'm not doing well and my medication isn't working, I have the hardest time derailing the negative thoughts.  I still try to do it, but it's much harder and sometimes it doesn't work at all.  When my meds are working I am much better at diverting negative thoughts and thinking of positives. 

[alliswell]

[cotton4me]

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@catwhisperer wrote:

As far as the "glass half full" vs. the "glass half empty", IMO, it's BOTH. Why does it have to be one or the other?

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@catwhisperer

Ha - your post reminded me of the following.