Image of Carpenter Ants from Purdue University
One of the best antidotes I know to remedy negativity, such as feelings of hopelessness, despair or failure is summoning the experience of gratitude.
Recognizing the blessings that fill my life (and really, they are countless), very quickly turns my negative mood around. Not only does it turn it around, but it is also such a leveler. Compared to all the things that seem to be ‘wrong’ or ‘lacking’ or ‘not working’, there are so many, many more that are ‘right’ or in adequate or plentiful supply or are working perfectly well.
During a conversation with a friend some weeks ago, I had occasion to remind myself of the importance of keeping a balanced perspective (which is something that having gratitude can do). I realized that the tenuous and fragile nature of life is such that it is literally a moment’s difference between ‘then’ and ‘now’.
For instance, you could be driving down the motorway and your entire life, as you’ve known it thus far, could change the moment you have an accident. You could be wheelchair bound for the rest of your life. That’s all it takes. A moment! And no matter how bad you may have been feeling before the accident, you would probably prefer to be there than where you may now find yourself!
Or you could be feeling angry about someone or something when the phone rings and you are informed of the death of someone very close to you. A moment is all that separates ‘then’ and ‘now’. And if you have been lamenting some of the things in your life and thereby giving it the best of your attention, you will have wasted the opportunity to have been joyous through gratitude. Worse still, you will be carrying this negativity into the new situation you face, leaving you in an even deeper state of negativity from which to recover.
I suppose a reasonable and useful question to ask is: Why do we keep falling into negative states?
There are two main reasons. The first is that for most of us, the mind has been conditioned into negativity. How? Well, the mind, in the first instance, is predisposed to perceiving problems. A problem is simply a perceived state of difference between ‘what is’ and ‘what is desired’.
Now, in theory, a problem state does not have to have negative associations. However, most of us have experienced problem states in the context of struggle, pain, effort, boredom and so on. Thus, even though it is possible to experience a problem state as just a difference in ‘what is‘ and ‘what is desired‘, we have been conditioned to experience it as a painful, difficult, insurmountable difference.
Well, that is the first reason. The second reason is that the more you stay in negativity, the more negativity stays with you. If you want to consider that in terms of the Law of Attraction, you’ll find the principle holds true. Which is why summoning gratitude as a frequent (not just daily) practice is a brilliant antidote for negativity. In time, it can replace your default negative programming!
So, don’t despair. Feel grateful. In fact, play a game with yourself. Look for the most obscure or unlikely and forgotten things that you might be grateful for…like that spider that appeared on your screen door and served to remind you to give all your doors and windows a dusting. Or the grain of sugar that you see an ant feasting on and its reminder of the taste of sweetness that you enjoy in so many different foods that you eat. Or that time when you were in desperate need of a toilet and couldn’t find one handy thus prompting you to remember a childhood friend caught in an embarrassing situation and your ability to help her…
Lucy Lopez – Hire Me!
Awakening to our Greatness!
