How to Stay Positive in a Negative Situation

Mariana 0:00   

Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Mindfully Recharged podcast, this is your host, Mariana Thomas. In today's episode, “how to stay positive in a negative situation” - Oh my goodness, yes, I have seen so much of this, this week. And I wanted to put this together because it is so important for us to stay positive when things are negative. Okay, so without further ado, let's get to the show. 

Intro Speaker 0:37   

Welcome to Mindfully Recharged with Mariana Thomas. In this podcast, Mariana brings you mindful conversations and people that will develop and recharge you from the inside out so that you can increase productivity in your personal and professional life. This is Mindfully Recharged.  

Mariana 0:57   

Okay, friends, like I mentioned, in today's episode, “how to stay positive in a negative situation”. Oh, my goodness, it has been a week of hearing a lot of people going through negativity and how to overcome this. And really, it's so simple. But let's talk about this. Because one thing that I know for sure, is that when we focus on something, we are focused on something. So, what that means is, whatever you focus on is going to grow for you. Whenever a wherever you put your attention to, that is definitely where your life is going to go, you can stay in a place of negativity. So don't focus your mind on negative things. Okay, so where your mind is, that is where your life is going to go. Okay, remember that. So, let's talk about this because it's really pondering on me. I just had a conversation with someone that is going through something like that, and this person is trying to figure it out - Do I need to move forward? Or do I need to stay here? And “here” is not a good place, because that's the place of negativity. So, you got to move forward, you got to go in and reflect and see what is it that’s going on, to get out of negativity. That's not where we want to be. You know, before I realized that not dealing with emotions, and really paying attention to the things that were bringing negativity into my life, it was very difficult to get out of that situation. And you kind of stay in this roller coaster ride, and you're going so fast, so fast, that you can’t feel and you can’t realize how you will get out of it. Or how are you going to stop? Stop and assess the situation, stop and move forward. You know, I was thinking when I was a little girl, and I used to go to the festivals where the roller coasters were and my grandmother will ask me “Did you want to go on?”, and the first thing that will come to my mind was, “Oh God, I have no control over stopping the roller coaster. It's going to go so fast and I'm not going to have control". But this is different, friends. We can stop this roller coaster of negative situations; it is all in your head. Me, when I was a little girl, I was on a roller coaster and had no control. The man in the bottom there was operating the machine had all the control. He could stop it in the middle of maybe where we were, I don't know how many feet up in the air. And I would stay up there with no control. But with this, I can't control the situation. And some of the things that I have found that works for me, I hope it works for you, and I hope that you find a way to apply these few things that I’m going to give you. 

 
 5:10 

And the first thing is gratitude. Gratitude is very important for me; it is something that I practice every single day. So, practicing gratitude is a great way of staying positive and bringing positivity into your thinking. Because it allows you to see the brighter side, and the good in your life, and the life of other people. Even when dealing with a negative situation that is just really bothering you, I want to invite you to spend a few minutes each morning of your day to write out the things that you're grateful for. And if you don't have a journal, get one, just get one. If you don't want to write because that's just not you, just say your gratitude out loud. You know, the way I practice is that as soon as I wake up, I’m in my bed and I say my gratitude. And it's usually something very simple, very small, from the day before or from the night before. And then I go into bigger things that I want to be grateful for. Being grateful of the little things, especially the positive things in my life, is what gives me the abundance mind, it’s what gives me positivity to start my day on the bright side.  

 
 6:59 

The second thing that I want to give you is to recognize that you control how you react to the negative situation. You can’t control a negative situation, you can’t control the roller coaster, like when I was a little girl, and I was there sitting down and the man at the bottom was running the machine and I have no control. But if I'm in a negative situation with someone or something, I can control my attitude, how I react, how I respond to it. So, you can’t control how other people act, and you often can’t control the cause of negative situations. You can control how you respond, how you are to respond or react to it. The way in which you react dictates how you move forward, and how positively you do so. What’s more important to you? How you react, or how you are going to affect the people in your life? You got to think about that. Reacting positively will help you feel much better about the situation and other potential situations that are going to come your way. Because guess what? It’s not going to go away; negativity is going to come when we least expect it. But you are the controller of your attitude. Owning your own reactions and emotions can be really empowering. And that is something that I have really experienced myself. With me being a foreigner and having an accent, you know that sometimes people misconstrue you because they think you're not smart enough. You know, because maybe you can’t find the words, the correct words to say. You know it can be a negative situation. But guess what? I stay in power. I stay in my power because I know who I am and what I bring to the table. So, think about what you bring to the table and stay in your power, and control your reactions to the situation.  

10:02 

And the third thing that I want to bring to you is, accept the situation at hand. It’s like allow it, allow it to happen. You know, you can’t just tell this situation “Go away, go away”, when it is there and when it is live. Accept that most situations are out of your control. But you can control your attitude, you can change, or direct, or affect other people's actions. And you have accepted that. Acceptance is the first step of moving on, because it means you have come to terms with a negative situation. Yeah, you’ve accepted it, now “how am I going to move forward?”. For example, in a case of, let's say, you broke up with your boyfriend, or you're going through a divorce, or somebody said something to you, or someone made fun of you because you have an accent, or you are from another country, I don't know. Feel the sadness or feel whatever emotion that that situation is going to bring you. And then accept it, that you can’t force someone else to be the person you want them to be. I have been in that situation, you guys. And I have wished that that person would never have said that, or will never look at me that way. Or would never have given me that energy. But guess what? I have to accept it for what it is. So, I can move forward. Accept it, allow it. Allow it to be, but make sure that you are reacting with a great attitude. 

12:22   

Number four, practice self-care. Putting yourself first - you know that I am all about that. Making time for yourself is so important, and it's so crucial, especially during difficult times. Because that's when we feel down. Right? We feel like some people let us down, we feel like, you know, you are overwhelmed at work. Wherever that negative situation is, you have to bring self-care into practice, into that moment of negativity to make it positive for you. Don't let your own basic needs fall by the wayside in favor of dwelling on the negative. Self-care doesn't have to mean you know, like bubbles in your bath, or face masks. It can mean just like, I don't know, eating regular meals. Like maybe you're skipping your meals, and you're not eating at the right time. So, you're going to tell yourself, “You know what, I'm going to make sure that I get the right ingredients, that I get my grocery in place this week. And I'm going to set myself for success. And I'm going to have my breakfast and lunch and dinner and maybe something nice in-between”. I don't know. Maybe you want to incorporate more water. Because you're not a water drinker. But guess what? That's the first thing that I do in the morning. After I do my gratitude, affirmations, and all of that. Water is so important because it's part of my self-care. You know, getting a good sleep a night, maybe go to bed earlier. That’s self-care. It’s not always about going to get a massage. “Oh my god, I'm going to get a facial”. Yeah, that's self-care. But there are other deeper things that you can do for yourself, to bring you up, to make you happier, to bring that positivity in you. And the last thing, before I go to number five, is to make sure you have a quiet time with yourself. Have that quiet time with yourself where you meditate, where you listen. You can listen more in the silence. It's in the silence where we can hear. So please, please take some time for silence.  

15:43 

And the last point and this is really critical, you guys... ask yourself critical questions to see the positivity. To see what is in there that I may not be looking at. You know, when you find a moment of silence, maybe you decide that you don't want to meditate, you want to journal. Whatever those savers that you want to practice, this is a great thing to bring, is to ask yourself critical questions. And you can journal this. And the questions can be “What have I learned about myself from this? What have I learned? What can I take forward from this situation?”. When you learn something, you want to apply it, right? “What did I learn that I want to bring forward? I want to move forward with it. So, what did I learn?” Write it down. “What do I need to do to heal from this in a healthy way?” That's a great question. Because in a negative situation, there is learning and there's healing. “What do I want to heal? Why will I allow this situation to help me grow as a person moving forward?” Wow, I love this question. I love to ask myself this question. I'm going to repeat this question for you because it is so important, “how will I allow this situation to help me grow as a person moving forward?” I said “allow” - “Am I going to allow this so I can move forward? Or am I going to resist it?” It's your choice, you have a choice here, you can either allow it for your benefit, so you can grow and move forward, or you can resist it and stay in the same place. It's up to you friends, it’s up to you. So, with that, I'm going to go back to the first to remind you of the five steps:

Practice gratitude.  

Recognize that you control how you react. What is your attitude here? 

Accept the situation, allow it to happen.  

Practice self-care, which is self-love. Love yourself.  

And the last one - Ask yourself critical questions, and make sure that you find silence. You know that I'm all about meditation, and finding the silent time to hear.  

I hope that this added a lot of value to you. And if you enjoyed this episode, friends, please share it with your friends and your families. You know, we want to get the word out there to everybody that can hear this. Please help me to reach out to the world. Share this episode. Send me an email to support at marianathomas.com if you have any questions, but I hope this episode was an added value to you. And with that, have a beautiful rest of your day, friends. And thank you for listening. Thank you, my friends. Bye.  

Closing 20:20 

Thank you for listening, everyone. And don't forget to go to the show notes and click to download your free Mindful and Energetic Living Guide. Also, don't forget to share this podcast with your friends, families, and everyone out there. I want to get this out there to everyone. So, thank you for your support, and I'll see you next week.