“You can complain because roses have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses” – Ziggy

It’s all well and good knowing we should be positive all the time. But sometimes, knowing we should be a little more positive doesn’t help us become positive. There are times when you just can’t shift from the mental and physical state of being a little sad, unhappy, worried, anxious or even depressed. And often there is good reason for us to feel that way.

But the longer we stay in the negative state of mind, the more negative we are attracting into our lives as our negative thoughts just attract more of the same. When we have negative thoughts our life experience is also impacted as we are ‘looking out’ for all the things around us to support the belief that life is not great – and when we look for it, we can sure find it. This in turn leads to self-defeating behaviour and ultimately a poor outcome in whatever we are doing.

It takes a conscious effort to shift ourselves into a positive frame of mind if we can find the energy, focus and desire to do so. You may think that it isn’t within your control to change the way you think, and that it is just external circumstances that control whether you feel positive or not. But what if you did have that control? What if you did believe that you could change your state of mind in an instant and be positive whenever you wanted? For some that’s just too scary as it means that you have nothing else to blame but yourselves for the state of mind you are in!!

So how do you turn on positivity in an instant?

Firstly, know that it is a choice. As the amazing Richard Wilkins says “if you could choose to be happy or sad, which would you choose?” If you would choose happy but you are sad, then it’s not you who is choosing, as sad is not what you would choose to be. So who chooses that for us instead? In essence it’s what we’ve been taught about how to behave and what we should think about certain situations all the years we’ve been living. We think it’s who we are, but it’s not.

It is all in your thinking. Once you have chosen to be positive it is about thinking good thoughts, as it is impossible to have good thoughts and feel bad (try it). Similarly it is impossible to have bad thoughts and feel good, so if you are feeling bad you know it’s because you are thinking bad thoughts.

To shift your thoughts you might need some “secret shifters” which are pre-programmed memories that turn on the good thoughts. Just think of a few great times you’ve had in the past and how you were feeling at the time, and use these to shift your thinking when you need to. Different ones can shift you at different times so just move on to another if one doesn’t do it for you straight away.

Once you have shifted yourself back to positive, then your positive thoughts just attract more of the same. Your life experience is then impacted as now you are ‘looking out’ for the things that support the belief that life is good – and when you look for it, they can be found too. This in turn will lead to self-motivating behaviour and result in a great outcome in whatever you do.

When you have the ability to shift your thoughts to positive at any time, you are in control of your mind, your thinking and ultimately your life experience.

With love and gratitude

Nadine.