How to Stay Positive Even When You’re Surrounded by Bad News!

How does the endless supply of bad news pouring over the airwaves day after day make you feel? Is your exposure to this pervasive influence beginning to take a toll on your outlook?

Admittedly, it can be extremely challenging to maintain an optimistic attitude when you are surrounded by bad news and uncertainty. So, how is it that some people manage to stay positive and upbeat in this environment while others give in to fear and uncertainty?

Have you done this?

Have you personally made a decision to be positive even when others are preaching doom and gloom?  Making that decision can completely change the way you respond to negative external influences.

The main thing to understand here is that your attitude, outlook, mood, and happiness are all personal decisions. For some reason, that doesn’t seem to be common knowledge, but just because others allow outside influences to rain on their parade doesn’t mean that you have to.

When it comes to perception you are the boss

Maybe you didn’t realize that you have the freedom to decide your response to everything. Maybe you thought you had no choice except to be pushed around by the negative headlines. Perhaps you believed that your feelings were somehow determined by forces beyond your control. They’re not!

The truth is, you get to decide your own feelings.  I know it doesn’t always feel like you have a choice, but you do. Sure, you can always follow the crowd, but how would that serve you?  Wouldn’t you be better served by making the choice to be positive, optimistic and resourceful instead?

There may be some internal struggle involved

Your own mind may not like this idea because there is often a degree of internal resistance when it comes to taking responsibility for your own feelings. It seems to be easier for your mind to believe that your feelings are beyond your control. This may be especially true if you’ve always been susceptible to the influence of others. In that case your mind will probably try to resist change.

Deciding to be positive in spite of popular opinion is like making a decision to be happy,  successful, abundant and peaceful. Once you decide to be positive you won’t need to listen to the talking heads on the news because their version of the world no longer applies to you.

What is your mind telling you?

Check and see what your mind has been telling you. Has it been telling you to take in as much news as you can, as if more details will lead you to a solution? Does it tell you to talk to everybody you know about how bad things are? All that does is reinforce a negative view of reality.

If you follow that course you’ll soon become convinced that you should worry day and night about everything that’s going on. You’ll feel like you should be doing something about it and that will lead to further frustration because you won’t know what to do.

You can think about it until you are blue in the face, but it simply will not help. How does it help you to get all tied up in knots worrying about things you cannot change? How does it help you to be nervous and scared over anything?

Don’t give your energy to the negative side

If you take a really close look, you will find that it does not help at all. It never helps to beat yourself up. It never helps to be negative about any person, place or situation.

Negativity draws more negativity, like a magnet. Beating yourself up and being negative will only move you further and further from a solution.

Bad news can only get you down if you let it. Only if you are paying attention to it and letting it push you around. Only if you are allowing it to make you feel scared and negative. You decide how much power it has over you.

Blame is completely irrelevant

Whatever you do, do not let yourself get caught up in the blame game. No matter what happens in your life don’t go looking for someone to blame. Don’t waste time trying to figure out whose fault it is. Blame is nothing but an emotional dead end.

Along the same line, don’t expect someone else to make everything better. It is totally unrealistic to think that anyone else is going to make much of a difference. Stop looking for other people to change your outlook; it is entirely up to you.

Claim your independence and shine

Nobody controls your feelings except you. If you decide to be positive in spite of what’s going on around you, your energy levels will go up, your attitude will improve, and your feelings will become increasingly more positive.

Granted, sometimes terrible things happen and I am not suggesting that we ignore them as if nothing was wrong. Denial is not a solution! What I am saying is that projecting negative emotional energy will not help the situation. The worse a situation is the more it needs your positive energy.

Your outlook on life is your decision. Decide to be positive in spite of everything, and watch what happens. You can decide in favor of yourself even in the face of bad news. It’s a decision, your decision. Don’t take my word for it, try it out for yourself.

Find out that being positive in spite of the noise will bring you more and more things to feel happy and positive about. Become a magnet for positive energy by being positive and optimistic. Make it your goal to become the most positive person you know and influence others for the good. Become an inspirational lighthouse of positive energy.  You have the power, so don’t be afraid to use it.

Roland