I’m sharing one of the golden things I’ve learnt from guided meditation. Here's exactly how you can take steps to train your mind to pivot from negative thoughts.
Have you ever had a bad day where one bad thing happens after another? I call this the negative domino effect. You stub your toe and then you feel sorry for yourself. You send out messages to the world that you want to feel sorry for yourself once more. The universe responds and you cut your hand and end up in A&E for hours. Then you complain about having to wait so long and so on and so forth.
The more you dwell on a bad feeling the more you become a victim to that feeling. The more you react to that feeling you’re stimulating that negative energy and causing that domino effect to happen.
If you believe that things just happen to you and that the world is a terrible place then you’ll never be happy. Bad things don’t just happen to you, you accept them allow them in with welcoming arms and then bask in your troubles.
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| Huntington Beach, California |
Enter meditation
Meditation has been one of the most difficult yet rewarding things I’ve done. One of the easiest way to get into it is to close your eyes. Now imagine that you’re drifting out of your body and you’re looking at yourself sitting there cross-legged on the floor with all that pain.
Looking at yourself as if in the third person allows you to start that initial step of separating yourself from your pain.
As you watch yourself in the third person you feel less and less of what you were feeling before. It is almost like that other you is suffering and you are simply an onlooker.
Pivot
Most people that complain don’t want to do anything to fix their problem. They just want to complain. Don’t drown in their negative ocean. Run or if you can’t pivot.
It is actually much easer to get rid of negativity coming from other people. You can either remove them from your life or if that’s not a choice you can pivot the direction of your thoughts as soon as they start spewing negative words. I wrote a whole post on how to deal with difficult people here.
Whenever someone says or does something negative change the direction of your thoughts even if it means thinking about ice cream and sunny days. Don’t let their words start a negative domino effect in your head.
It is important to remember that although on the outside it looks like they are having a go at you in reality they're having a rough battle with themselves. People judge and berate you based on their own limitations or pain points. Once you know this you’ll find it easier to pivot. Let them bask in their troubles, you carry on smiling.
Be present
The simple practice of meditation I’ve shared allows you to be in the present moment without the worries you may have about tomorrow. There are so many more facets I can’t wait to share with you.
My point is if you worry about the future you can never be truly present and then when you get there to that future you were worrying about you continue to worry further into your future. One day soon you’ll be gone.
A really good example of this was during my final year at university things at home weren’t so great but I allowed that negativity to stream into my great time at university until graduation day.
I was determined that no matter what was going on at home that once I wore my graduation gown it was game face on or should I say mind on the present moment?
It was the hardest thing to do. My graduation has become one of the most happiest and memorable days in my life. There is nothing more empowering than being able to switch from the victim mindset to a positive one. Being positive takes a lot more energy, effort and courage and people will bring you down for that but you must continue to meditate, pivot and be present.
The only power we have over our lives is our attitude. When you choose not to react to the inevitable storm you hold the power. Trying to fight a storm is a battle you know you will lose and even worse, complaining about the storm will have you in that state of mind forever.
Meditation creates awareness and when you become aware of yourself you know when and how to pivot and be present. You can catch yourself when you react to something, when you want to change something about yourself or get rid of something that no longer serves you.
To end I will leave you with a video I made about mindfulness and positivity and this quote.
An entire sea of water can’t sink a ship unless it gets inside the ship. Similarly, the negativity of the world can’t put you down unless you allow it to get inside you - Goi Nasu
