Positive Mind Management

A Guide to Staying Positive in Challenging Times

It is not surprising that most of us invest a huge amount of time, effort, and money into taking care of our bodies and attempting to maintain our best physical and emotional health. Yes! it matters a lot however, the mind receives less attention (literally). The importance of mental health is sometimes overlooked, and we frequently believe that our minds are somehow beyond our control.

Buddhist text states that "our thought creates our life." Buddhism created an entire discipline for taming the restless mind so that anyone can get over its uncontrollable flush of emotions and eventually find serenity and enlightenment.

What we should keep in mind is that the mind is very important for our day-to-day living and existence. It creates everything we go through or encounter and that is why sometimes I tell people, especially my students that we have to be mindful of our minds and our thoughts.

That is not to say that there is a 100% mastery of the mind, however, there are ways that will help you stay positive and not beat yourself down when unpleasant thoughts visit. Trust me, I am not a master of my mind, this is a guide that has been helping me and is still doing its job in assisting me to control my emotions. We all get those from time to time, but how do you reduce the tendency of the reoccurrence of negative thoughts and how do you manage them?

1. Law of attachment: Humans have the tendency to draw things towards themselves that tend to damage us when those things are no more. The only way out is to have it in our minds that it is not permanent, we can love, live, and like things or people, but we should always remind ourselves that we don’t own them and it is all temporary, so what I always advise and what keeps me moving is the mindset that eventing is temporary, and yes, it is difficult to not attach ourselves to things or people, nevertheless, we can sometimes control the impact of the absence of that entity, whether it is a person or a thing.

2. Practice Gratitude: Negative situations loom huge until you actively counteract them. By giving your brain the extra time it requires to register and retain a happy event, thinking about the positive aspects of your life can help offset this bias. For instance, you got posted or deployed to an area of work that you do not like, yes, maybe, the place is different from where you were before, or the people there are not the way you want them to be, so how do you keep a grateful attitude and enjoy that area? You have to first know that you will not be there forever, also make up your mind that it is an adventure and you are there to explore the area and get to know the lives of the people there, make it fun to do, remember that no one owes you your happiness, just you. Further to this scenario, you could explore the opportunities there and make a different life out of it. Who knows where it will get you to.

Think about your blessings and why you're thankful at least once a week to help your brain remember good things. List the opportunities you have to pursue a career you love or the support of your family among your blessings. Keep a nighttime journal of the nice things that occurred each day if you prefer to make it a habit.

3.      Choose how to confront negative thoughts: We get to decide how to react each time a bad notion pops up. When something bad happens, our minds focus on it, making it appear much greater and more important than it is. Start by visualizing the thought as something apart from you that you can analyze and disassemble to battle it. After that, try to confront those negative thoughts by breaking them down into bits so that you can understand them. There is no need for brooding and doing nothing about it.

4.      Figure out the things that make you feel purposeful in life: this is one of the tips that help you stay positive. The activities or things that make you feel right and purposeful are the kinds you have to concentrate on. Whether it is your job, your daily routine, or whatsoever it may be, you should pay more attention to them and make them guide you into positivity.

5.      Relax: The world is fast-moving, and everyone is in a rush trying to make something out for themselves, amid such chaos, you have to relax and chill sometimes. Allow your body the liberty to rest and make itself feel good. That is what happy people do. Whatever you do to relax, take time to do it once you feel stressed and tensed up. Listening to music, watching a movie, walking to the park, or anything at all that relaxes you, is worth it, it is not a waste.

6.      Surround yourself with positive people: Negative people are broken people and it is very contagious, the moment you surround yourself with bitter and negative people, you are likely to see all the negativity in you and around you. Flee from the bitter people if you cannot influence them to be positive. Discussing a problem to find a solution is different from constant complaints about the problem.

7.      Embrace your flaws: becoming aware of your flaws will help you take responsibility for your actions. No human is without flaws, we all make mistakes, and we all hurt people unintentionally. Embrace them and see all humans as so. When you have this type of mindset, you will realise that all humans are fallible and will help you limit the extent to which you judge people.

8.      Keep your mind busy: this way, you will have no time to think about negative things, the moment your mind detects that you are idle, it will find something and it always chooses the bad.  Make yourself busy and forget about anything else.

9.      Talk to your mind: when you catch yourself thinking about something that can bring your spirit down, you can tell it, “No, not today” You can tell your mind to avoid thinking bad thoughts. It may sound unrealistic but I do it when I find negative thoughts crawling up into my mind. You can just talk your mind out of it or get something doing to divert your mind from bringing up those thoughts.

10.  Get Conscious of your breath: Just pay attention to your breathing. Pay attention to the air entering and leaving the space. Observe your belly tumbling. As the air leaves your nostrils, feel it. For as long as you like, continue this. You are free to leave the circumstance. Thus, the adrenaline has time to return to normal. You may now approach the situation with a more composed, logical perspective, refrain from acting negatively, and you'll have greater control over your thoughts.

All these tips may not work out for everyone, but at least you will find one that helps manage your thoughts more positively.