by Karen Wolff
Why is it so much easier to have a negative attitude than a positive one? What’s inside you that just naturally pulls you to the negative side of things?

You read the books, you attend the seminars, you buy the tapes, you even wear the t-shirt…..and things seem to go well for awhile. You feel better, your outlook is better, and you’re hopeful. That is…..until something happens that sends you reeling all over again.

It doesn’t even have to be a major, catastrophic event to send you back to the land of negative thinking. It can be something as simple as someone cutting you off in traffic or pushing ahead of you in the grocery checkout line. What gives those seemingly simple occurrences of every day life so much power to literally throw you into a tizzy all over again?

This never ending cycle continues because its source is never addressed. You “try hard” to be positive, attempting to over-ride how you truly feel. It’s a lot of work pretending to be positive when inside you know all too well that it won’t take long and one of those annoying life issues is going to creep up and dump all over your positive attitude.

Negative attitudes come from negative thoughts that come from reactions to negative behavior….and around the cycle goes. And you must know that none of this negative stuff is coming from God. There is nothing negative about the way He thinks or acts.

So how do you put a stop to all this nonsense? How do you get to a place where your positive attitude is what’s natural for you and not the other way around?

I wish I could give you a magic formula that, when applied correctly, would erase your negative attitude in 3 days. Yup, can’t you just see the infomercial on a product like that? For just $19.95 you can have all your dreams come true. What a bargain! People would be lining up for this one.

But alas….the real world isn’t quite so simple. But the good news is that there are some things you can do to help you transition from the land of negativity to a much more positive place.

• First, focus on what you’re thinking about. Remember the part about being stuck because you’ve never addressed the source? All your negative actions are coming from your negative thoughts. Your body has no choice but to follow wherever your mind goes.

  It is possible to control your thoughts, regardless of what you’ve been led to believe. As soon as a negative thought comes into your mind, purposefully make it a point to replace it with a positive one. At first, this may take some work, because chances are, you will probably have a lot more negative thoughts in your head than positive ones. But eventually, that ratio will reverse itself.

• Second, stop letting other people’s negative attitudes influence yours. This may mean you need to stop hanging around with people who do nothing but spout negative stuff. You can’t afford to do it when your goal is to become more positive. The negative people in your life aren’t going to like it when you stop participating. Just remember that birds of a feather really do flock together.

• Third, make a list of all the areas in your life that you want to change. List all your negative attitudes too. If you can’t really think of things to put on your list, just ask your family. I’ll bet they’ll help you make it a REALLY LONG list.

• Fourth, take the time to write strong, life-giving, positive affirmative statements. Make a commitment to read those statements out loud every day. Enjoy how great they make you feel. Know in your heart that you’re making progress, even if you can’t see it just yet. Just keep affirming the positive.

• Lastly, take the time to pray about this. You can’t change by yourself. But you can spend time with the One who can help. You do what you can, and you let God do the rest. It really IS that simple.

This process will change how you think and that’s the real key to changing how you act. Remember…..your body will follow wherever your mind goes. There is no way to separate the two, so you might as well “program in” what you want instead of randomly leaving it to chance.

Just know that God’s version of right attitudes contains nothing negative. And if you want God’s best for your life, it starts with right thoughts…..His thoughts to be exact.

For more help go to Is My Attitude Really that Important?Karen Wolff is the author and founder of www.christian-books-for-women.com, a place for women to find info, tips, and help with issues they face every day. Also find Christian book reviews and recommendations.

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