Thinking Positive on a Bad day

All of us hear and pass on one advice too often and that is - to think positive. It is a simple thing to do…isn’t it? But only when everything is fine in life, when the life is almost as you want it to be. How easy it is to tell someone to think about good things, have encouraging thoughts and feel good about self, but how often can we follow this advice when we are having a bad day ourselves?

Even the most balanced people falter when they come face-to-face with a tough situation. I think it is not humanely possible to be cheerful all the time, be smiling when you are sad from inside and be calm when all you want to do is scream at the top of your voice. In my opinion, it is fine to be vulnerable or sad or angry or disappointed. It is OK to have negative thoughts once in a while. After all, life is not all roses all the times. Sometimes, thorns do prick and no one likes that. Our mind wants to wander from the path of all peace and get a taste of not-so-good thoughts once in a while. Sometimes, it is OK to feel that way; it is OK to think that way.

Now I am not going to preach about how to avoid these negative emotions and how not to think about what is wrong etc. We all know those tricks very well; don’t we? Yes, we know what helps - deep breathing, trying to think good things, feeling the fresh air, looking at nature etc! Yes, we are aware of all this. But then, who is in a mood to actually look around and see those beautiful colorful flowers and smile when inside, I am burning with hatred towards life? Life is unfair after all, and those flowers should not be blossoming when I am sad! Who has the wish to block negativity and listen to the sounds of birds and feel the music in air, when all I want to do is burst my lungs shouting? Well, may be I don’t feel like getting better. Maybe, I want to sulk. Perhaps, I want to rebel, break the rules, be cranky and get upset about every small thing that comes my way.

I say, so what? It is fine to think of letting everyone go to hell, once in a while. I am sure you are not harming anyone if one day out of so many days of your life, you don’t feel like doing anything, and just waste your time cribbing about anything and everything. And, I am positive that if you don’t put these harmful thoughts into action and you don’t let them linger for too long in your mind, you are still good!

You know what is the best way to strengthen a thought? Resist it! This works even better than the method of repetition. So, if you flout these negative emotions, they will feed upon your struggle and grow. Ignoring something negative works better than resisting it? Resisting it implies you are tempted. Ignoring means you are simply not interested. Isn’t it better to let these bad vibes come and pay no attention to them so that they go away themselves?

It is OK to cry or scream into a pillow. But then, at one moment you will have to get up, wipe your tears, compose yourself and move on. You will have to try your best with the situation you are in. So why not time your screaming and crying? Sounds foolish? Well, try it and you will find yourself looking forward to the time to stop. Who know, you might stop before it is time.

When I am having a bad day, I give myself a task to complete by the end of the day. And guess what? When I am done, all the anger, hurt and even a slight discomfort is no longer there. I feel good about not only accomplishing my task, but also about being able to win against those hurtful parasitic thoughts. Sometimes, they do try to creep into your mind when you are in the middle of your work, but then you can focus on how nice the weather is (appropriate for what you are doing) or if you are breathing in a right manner. These small trivial things take your mind off whatever was disturbing you and you are good to continue your work. The battle is won!

When you are having a bad day, do just one thing different from the routine, however small or insignificant it might seem. It will make a difference. Like today I was having a bad day and I decided to write an article about it. Here it is.

My Little Achievers

Chunchu and Shiku...of course!
Shiku completed one month at school today. Before he was admitted to school, he was always willing and in fact, too keen to follow in the footsteps of his sister. Sometimes, he used to miss Chunchu, and at other times, he even used to cry asking to let him accompany her. So I started sending him to school at such a tender age. He is in play group, where in he just enjoys his day with other kids, some even younger than him, and sometimes, he learns a little. The activities they do vary from drawing lines, coloring etc to singing poems and learning numbers and alphabets. He enjoys that part. The part that he detests is when he is ready and realizes he has to leave in a minute. I used to hear about what he does during that one minute from mom and Chunchu everyday. Last week, I was on leave for two days and saw it myself. And, did I enjoy it? Well, at first when he started crying and screaming, my heart went out to him, and I thought that he is too young to go to school, perhaps. But the next moment, when I carried him down the stairs, he bade goodbye to everyone, including a lizard he spotted on the wall! That was really a sight to watch...one minute throwing a tantrum saying "Atti (his name for himself) won't go" and then the other moment, enthusiastically saying "bye bye, lizard, momma, mummy, nana...bye bye".
Coming to my other little achiever Chunchu...she won two gold medals yesterday when her school held a sports day. She participated in a coin race and dupatta race, winning both of them! My angel! The night before yesterday, she was telling me about their practice for these races, and she was upset that she came second. OMG, how she hates coming second! She kept telling me she wanted to be first. So I told her, "Tomorrow when you have this event, why don't you run as fast as you can? Having good dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow morning will help you give strength." She was pleased to hear that and had a hearty meal. Yesterday when I came back from office and she showed me her medals, I kissed her congratulating her. She said, "Mumma, I came first because I had become strong after having good dinner and breakfast!" I wondered if that statement really encouraged her. Sometimes, even we as adults want to hear someone telling us that we can do it and then, we go ahead giving our best and emerge winners.
I wish my Little achievers grow up to become big ones and they still keep the spirit to fight till the end.