I Challenge You to be Positive

I can recognize a general trend in my life which I am sure resonates with almost everybody. As an associate lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand I am required to achieve an 80% pass rate for the courses I am responsible for. I have noticed that when the students perform well on a test or assignment it will bring me real joy. I have also noticed however that this rush of joy is typically short-lived. Before I know it I have forgotten about the success of my students and the joy their success created dissipates. Naturally, when my students perform badly I get distressed and start to worry about whether I am doing a good enough job. Interestingly, unlike the joy of success, the distress of failure lingers a lot longer. It is a lot harder for me to forget the distress of failure, it sticks with me.

I think this is a trend most of us suffer from. We very easily forget our achievements and the positives in our lives but struggle to forget our failures and negatives in our lives. We shrug off the good things and keep hold of the bad things.

Allison Ledgerwood has conducted studies on precisely this phenomenon. Allison’s studies shows us that people find it much easier to focus on the negatives than on the positives. Focusing on the negatives comes more naturally to us and when have become aware of the negatives we struggle to forget about them, even if we have a bunch of positives listed to us:

Giving this fact I think we all need to give ourselves a challenge: Work on seeing the positives. Focusing on the positives does not come naturally to us. It is something we need to work on and become better at.

But how do we work on seeing the positives? We must be deliberate about it. Everyday, when we busy complaining about all the negative things that have happened during the day, we must stop ourselves. We must spend a while telling someone all the good things about our day. If you are struggling to find any then keep looking until you do, even if it is just the smile of a child or anything, no matter how small. If you dont have anybody to tell then write it down in a diary. Even if you do have someone to tell, write it down in a diary anyway. By doing this you will improve your outlook on life and live a happy and healthier life.