positivity

5 Steps to Practice Positivity

In Life Reflections by Chris Day

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Chris Day

Chris Day

If I were to quantify the amount of time I spend being happy and positive, I’d say I land somewhere at or around 95%. In fact, an old friend of mine used to call me “Mayo” because he said that every time he saw me coming, my huge grin (and large teeth) reminded him of a jar of mayonnaise. Sure I wish he would have nicknamed me something that would have really highlighted how white my teeth are, like Ice Cap or Cotton Mouth Adonis, but even Mayo was quite a compliment.

Positivity is simply a state of mind. Some of us may be more prone to it than others but ultimately it’s something we have the ability to turn on or off at will. There is an exercise that I try to practice daily to promote positivity inside my own head. Maybe you’d like to give it a shot. It’s nothing original or earth-shattering but it works. And it especially works on those days when I’m stuck in the other 5%.

For every common annoyance you run across today follow these steps:
1) Stop.
2) Truly observe.
3) Allow yourself to be annoyed for a second.
4) Figure out why it annoys you.
5) Flip it on its head.

If you find a way to put a positive spin on things that seem to annoy you, over time those same things transcend from annoyance to pleasure. Let’s look at a few examples:

What you see:
Skateboarding hooligans, seemingly tearing up parking lots and stairwells whose parents are nowhere to be found.
What you could see:
Energetic young people, actually exercising instead of sitting in front of a TV and finding a way to create real-time, in-motion art. Kids being young and enjoying their surroundings.

What you see:
“Bad” parents in a restaurant letting their child scream and throw a tantrum.
What you could see:
Parents who refuse to let their child walk all over them and get every little thing he/she wants. Parents who are holding their ground and raising their child not to be a jerk. Instead of judging, maybe a better option would be to pick up their tab for them. Parenting is difficult and they probably need a little relief.

What you see:
A driver who blatantly steals the parking spot at the mall you’ve been waiting on.
What you could see:
A chance to park a little further away and walk off that third piece of Chocolate Tuxedo Cream from the Cheesecake Factory.

Try this exercise. I’m positive it could work for you too.

Photo (Flickr CC) by Matthias Ripp

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Chris Day

Chris Day

A college dropout, church pastor, and international arms dealer all walk into a bar … Luckily it’s not a huge tab because they’re all the same person. Chris began his college career in medicine and ended it (short) enrolled in religious studies. After several years in church work, Chris moved onto the next logical step: Dealing firearms, of course. More than a decade later, he’s still arming the world while also dabbling in comedy and acting. He sees himself as the William Hung of the writing world. No formal training, but overly enthusiastic and off key. You can follow Chris, but he may call the cops because he’s not on Twitter, so that would just be considered stalking.
Chris Day

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