Kick out Negativity

The world is full of people and people are full of thoughts, ideas and feelings. We live in a society and enjoy the company of friends and family. But what happens when these people who share your life, who become a part of it by virtue of relationships or friendships contribute in negative ways to your life. People share negative thoughts, negative ideas, negative emotions and constantly prod you to be party to their "negative" thought process. Infact, things like news and television can also constantly add to your daily dose of negativity.

You, if you are like me, on the inside don't like that they are talking so negatively about say a person but on the outside nod your head or stare as if you are watching Arnab Goswami on Primetime, without basically adding anything to what they are saying. You would think that this was a good way of handling "negative talk" situations. But after repeated exposure to such incidents I have understood that even if you do not REACT to negativity, you are being affected by it and at some point your reactions will surface. You'll be quite surprised when they do.

Take for example how Aamir Khan reacted to the intolerance issue hovering over India like Armageddon. Was he to blame? I guess not. We all react to constant negative banter in some way or the other. The worst is when we take this negative banter to be the truth and start believing in it without making complete sense out of it. We've all done it at some point or the other. Sometimes we've done it just to make conversation, sometimes to keep friendships and relationships from breaking up. And sometimes to dig ourselves out of our morality shell and take a hike.

You can dismiss however much, but ultimately all this negative talk will slowly but surely affect you and your actions. So, how can we tackle this and let our thoughts flow towards positive ones and ones that help you retain your inner sane self? Here are my escape routes. Pick yours!

1. If possible minimize conversations with people who think negative about each and every thing and every person. If maintaining relationships with this negative soul is a must, do the minimum required. At some point, give them the message!

2. Breathe in, breathe out. Meditate. They say this is good for the mind and heart. Utilizing spare time to exercise is definitely a good option.

3. Spend time with children. Notice their pure heart. Their wants are so basic. Their happiness is so viral. Why can't we grow up like this? Where does the innocence vanish? Think about it, take notes and read them once in a while!

4. "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people" - Eleanor Roosevelt. This one needs no explanation and is a mighty useful quote if we can stick to it.

5. This one is difficult but something I have to put in here. "Simply think positive". Just try and think positive about every thing that happens in the world. Think positive about people and their actions. Just think good stuff. Be happy and let other's be happy.

6. Remember this - The world is not conspiring against you. People have better things to do.

7. Have trust in people, their words and their actions. Read No.6 again.

8. Get a hold on how you feel about other people. Try not to harbour jealousy, hatred and other negative emotions.

9. Let go and move on. Do something, anything that brings value to you, your family, your friends, your society and not necessarily in that order!

10. No, I don't want to go on with saint like advice here so I will stop. But you get the drift!

Basically, staying positive and thinking good stuff will make you happy about you are while you are here and who you were when you are not :) Zimple.