Everywhere you look there are indicators that the economy is tanking. Bad news pervades the scene. How is a generally positive person to keep her usually rosy outlook on track? I don’t know about you guys, but I have a few tricks up my sleeves that help me to stay focused on the positives in life.
Don’t Watch the News!
The news outlets are only looking for the worst, most sensational news to tell you about. They do this because this is what people will pay for. It’s sad, but it’s true. I stopped watching the news years ago when a woman news achor was reporting about an accident involving a school bus and when she said “thankfully, no one was hurt”, she sounded disappointed. I was done. And you know what? I haven’t missed anything. In 10 years nothing that has been relevant to me has passed me by. There’s always someone who tells me when the blizzard is coming or the latest heart-warming story or when I should be on the lookout for something. I haven’t missed anything except the blood and gore and general unhappiness in the world. This one act alone has been HUGE in improving my outlook.
Don’t Watch Crime Shows
I used to be a crime show fanatic. I watched all of the Law and Orders, all of the CSIs, Crossing Jordan, NCIS, you name it, I watched it. And then a few years ago, I got TiVo and I could watch them on demand. I’d watch four or five hours in a row if I had a free evening. A few months later, I started getting migraines – bad ones. After a couple of years of this my boyfriend at the time suggested that I take a break from TV for a while. He thought that all of those crime shows couldn’t be helping my stress levels. I thought he was nuts, but I agreed to put a moratorium on watching any TV for a couple of weeks. When I came back to it, I watched four hours of shows at a shot and by midway through the last show, I had a migraine. That proved it for me. I haven’t watched a crime show since.
Do Hang Out With Other Positive People
One of the best ways to avoid the blues is to hang out with other optimists. Stay away from the negative Nellies of the world and keep yourself busy with those who are holding the best outlook in life. One way to do this is to attend networking events with positive outlooks. Here are a few events that can help you with this goal no matter where you live (they are hosted on BlitzTime):
How To Motivate People To Take Action and Buy Even in a Slow Economy
It’s All About Who You Know: A Business Development Networking Blitz
Read Positive Books
I love to read. I don’t always have time to read an entire book at a sitting, but I love to surf and sample my books. I do divination by book sometimes when I’m looking for a little direction. The lovely thing about this is that I can mostly pre-determine my answer by the book I pick. It works like this: ask a question, grab a book and open it to a random page and start reading for the answer. You’d be surprised how often it’s really relevant.
My Recommended Books
Anyway, there are a few books that I would recommend you read whether you read them in bits and pieces or all the way through to keep you in a positive mindset. They are:
Loving What Is by Byron Katie – I love this woman. My favorite quote comes from her: “I know everyone in the world loves me. I just don’t expect them to know it yet.”
Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach. I’ve read this book about 10 times in my life. I adore it and it keeps life in perspective for me.
The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield. There’s nothing like understanding the nature of things to keep you relaxed and moving forward. This one is good for that.
Want to know more about my perspective on the world and how I stay balanced? Check out my ebook Going Within:Finding Balance In An Unstable World
