We all suffer from vulnerabilities. We are vulnerable to negativity that creeps into our lives.
There are four different types (or buckets) of negativity that we are prone to. Sure, the temptation is for us to think that we aren’t really negative people. Truth is somewhere in the middle. From time to time, odds are we all wrestle with negativity.
If we can’t define it, there’s no way we can defeat it. So what if we dive into it and figure it out?
Which of these four areas do you see yourself falling into?
Relational Cynisicm
Cynicism is a general distrust of people and their motives. We think they are going to take advantage of us. They are only out for themselves and their interests. They don’t really care about us; it is all about themselves.
Negative Filtering
This is when we see what is wrong with something and find the worst possible things to point out. We look at a situation and have no willingness to see any good aspects of it. We overlook what is good or right.
Absolute Thinking
This is when we have polarized thoughts. We see situations as all or nothing. If something bad happens, you generalize that “something” . . . for example – someone hurts you or does something you don’t like, so you write them completely off. “I don’t like this part of them so I want to have NOTHING to do with them.”
Blaming
We see ourselves as a victim. The reason we are where we are is because something or someone did something to us. We do not look for our fingerprints on situations, only those of other people. The bottom line for this is there is no way for us to get ahead because the world is stacked against us.
Each of the aspects of these situations may not describe us, but most likely, parts of them do. And we are all prone to one bucket more than another.
Own it.
Figure out “how” you think and then own it.
Tomorrow, we will talk about mantras we can use to overcome it!
Grace and Peace,
Andrea