We have a big problem that is taking hold around us faster than an epidemic; negative thinking. Before you go off dismissing this, really take a few minutes to sit back and reflect on it. Think of your own day to day. You probably just breeze by all the great things you do without a second thought, but as soon as even the smallest mistake is made you just pile on.
This is what I mean about negative thinking, when we constantly beat ourselves up over errors or mistakes we have made in our lives. Sure it is okay, and even helpful to do this in a controlled manner, but for most as soon as the negative thinking starts it snowballs; eventually consuming us.
Don't worry I have the cure to this epidemic of negative thinking; be positive.
Not the most original of solutions I know but what could work better? It is simple and a polarizing force towards our negative thoughts, nothing could be more effective. Be careful though the difference between actually being positive and just saying to ourselves "be positive" are miles apart.
Since we now know we need to be a positive thinker we just have figure out what it is. Norman Vincent Peale said:
"A positive thinker does not refuse to recognise the negative, he refuses to dwell on it. Positive thinking is a form of thought which habitually looks for the best results from the worst conditions."
AHA! there it is. In order to think positively we need to habitually look for the best results in worst conditions but in order for us to be capable of doing this we need to practice during life's smaller speed bumps. This way we are well trained to handle the big hard curveball's life is most certainly going to throw our way.
One of the best ways I like to practice this is by "Celebrating our Wins". At the beginning of the post I talked about how we always brush by our successes but dwell on our failures. By doing this we correct our behaviour and help increase our self esteem and positivity. It is not necessary to do this all the time, but do make a point of celebrating any major win you do have.
So keeping with the spirit of today's post I thought I would share a couple wins I have had and then you could share one with me. Let's make this post just a big ball of positive energy rolling around the internet.
Win 1 - Success with this Blog
This blog started out when I got sick but was very sporadic until November of last year when I decided to put more focus into it. One of the reasons I started this blog was when I first got sick and searched "leukemia blog" in google I didn't find any useful information. I dreamed of one day being on the first page of google results. Well that day has come! If you search:
- "Leukemia Blog" I come up as the 3rd result out of 7,050,000
- "Acute Leukemia Blog" - the 3rd Result out of 7,070,000
- "Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Blog" - 9th result out of 854,000
These are all wonderful achievements but they just more or less satisfy the ego. Although they do help achieve what I set out with this blog, to help people who have been diagnosed with leukemia. But what I am most proud of is this blog has evolved to be meaningful, and inspirational to everyone who reads it rather than just cancer patients. In addition, it is starting to extend its reach way outside of my circle. This is what excites me the most, the continued growth of this blog.
Win 2 - A Healthy Lifestyle
When I was first diagnosed I was not living a healthy lifestyle at all. I was lazy, not active, overweight, eating terribly, and drinking each weekend. Not exactly setting my body up for success was I. With the onset of my leukemia I told myself when I made it through I would make positive changes to my life. I didn't focus on this too much last year because when you are constantly being bombarded with chemotherapy you need to keep all guilty pleasures at your disposal in order to mentally stay strong. I did stop drinking and eating fast food but what I really wanted to do was lose weight and become healthy again. Once my transplant was completed I decided it was time to start my movement towards a healthy body and I am happy to announce that in just over 7 months of time I have lost 45 pounds!
What makes it even better is I achieved this weight loss through healthy eating, not crash dieting or insane workout regimes. Lately I have been adding physical activity to augment my eating habits.
Win 3 - Finding A Passion
I know, I know you all know photography has become a passion of mine; no new news here. But we can't discredit this, passions are one of the most essential components to maintaining our positivity.
What I am celebrating today is not finding the passion though but sticking with it. Henri Cartier Bresson said "your first 10,000 photographs are your worst". When I first heard this I was taken aback by the magnitude of that number, it seemed so daunting to think I had so far to climb to achieve this standard. Well this past month I passed my 10,000th photograph taken.
Because of achieving this milestone I am going to dedicate my next two posts to celebrating my very best shots from the first 10k.
So I have celebrated three wins with you, what is a win that would like to celebrate with me?
Did You Enjoy This Blog? Get all my posts delivered FREE to your email!
No comments:
Post a Comment