I searched the Internet recently to find research on positive thinking. All I used as keywords was “Positive thoughts” research. As expected I was referred to a large number of sites, all of which stated the same thing. Your physical and mental well-being is directly affected by thinking positively. I was not surprised. All the research shows that if you continue to think more negatively, you will feel more negative. Negative emotional feelings can have a cumulative effect on your body over time. In one study published in the American Psychologist it was concluded that “words can have the same effect as drugs: thinking optimistically can change your whole biology”.
Why do I make a point of this? I’m tired of the either someone is all right or all wrong mentality. Rarely do you find, in political posturing, that though most of what someone says is wrong, there are some positive points that can be gleaned from their ideas.
I used to see it a lot in our local papers in regards to things that went on in our school district. According to the papers, everything that our district did was wrong. According to our district everything the paper wrote about was incorrect. All that was bred was hostility.
As an educator, the same issues arose with certain Board of Education members/administrators and our union. Everything that the administration wanted us to do was bad, according to our union, and everything that the union was telling us to do was bad for the district or kids, according to administration.
I’m not denying that things could be changed. Yes, there are always going to be problems and differences of opinion, but the bottom line is that we should be united to work on solutions. That does mean together, not one side against the other. We need to learn to listen and accept other people’s opinions even if we don’t agree with them. The constant harping on the negative and ignoring the good things that go on is not healthy for any of us.
Recognition and positive feedback for good work that has been done, can only enhance how we feel and who we are. We need a lot more of that. Not just from those that disagree with us, as some would have you believe, but from each other and ourselves. We need to recognize the good in ourselves and tell each other that. There is not a day I’m not impressed by something someone does or says. That’s what keeps me focused and striving to do better. To focus only on the negative people and issues and to ignore how good we are is a disservice to ourselves.
Years ago a colleague and I were moaning about the placement process and how terrible our classes were. It looked like we were doomed to a stressful and depressing year. What we decided to do was meet with each other every Friday and state one positive experience that happened to us that week in our class. It wasn’t easy all of the time, but with much soul searching we managed to find things. I’m not going to say that year was the best on record, but both of us, by the middle of the year, were not moaning as much about how bad our classes were. In fact, there were a lot of good things that helped us have a better year than we ever expected.
Everyone should be proud of the good work they do. Look at the positive in yourselves and others and make sure you share. Work together to solve difficulties in a healthy environment that you promote yourselves.
I’ve included at the end of this an article from the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s counseling clinic:
The Power of Thoughts
We all have negative thoughts sometimes. Often these negative thoughts are not true or are not helpful to our life. Research has shown that catching our negative thoughts and replacing them with positive ones can bring major changes to our lives. We can decrease our feelings of depression and powerlessness. We can increase our feelings of hope and courage. Personal achievement often follows positive thinking. How does your thinking compare to the list below? Could you replace some of your negative thoughts with positive ones?
NEGATIVE THOUGHTS POSITIVE THOUGHTS
I don’t deserve love I deserve love; I can have love
I am a bad person I am a good (loving) person
I am terrible I am fine as I am
I am worthless (inadequate) I am worthy; I am worthwhile
I am shameful I am honorable
I am not lovable I am lovable
I am not good enough I am deserving
I deserve only bad things I deserve good things
I cannot be trusted I can be trusted
I cannot trust myself I can (learn to) trust myself
I cannot trust my judgment I can trust my judgment
I cannot succeed I can succeed
I am not in control I am now in control
I am powerless I now have choices
I am weak I am strong
I cannot protect myself I can (learn to) take care of myself
I am stupid I have intelligence
I am insignificant (unimportant) I am significant (important)
I am a disappointment I am okay just the way I am
I deserve to die I deserve to live
I deserve to be miserable I deserve to be happy
I cannot get what I want I can get what I want
I am a failure (will fail) I can succeed
I have to be perfect (please everyone) I can be myself (make mistakes)
I am permanently damaged I am (can be) healthy
I am ugly (my body is hateful) I am fine (attractive/lovable)
I should have done something I did the best I could
I did something wrong I learned (can learn) from it
I am in danger It’s over; I am safe now
I cannot stand it I can handle it
I cannot trust anyone I can choose who to trust
I cannot let it out I can choose to let it out
I do not deserve… I can have (deserve) …
