A Place to Go When Negativity Takes Hold | VictorSchueller.com

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“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.” ~Melody Beattie

Sometimes you just can’t escape “it.”  Sometimes “it” falls right in your lap, and you have no choice but to deal with it.  The “it” I am talking about is none other than that “difficult-to-deal-with negative energy.”  Sometimes it is a result of people around you who are complaining or worrying about something.  Sometimes it’s a self-defeating thought that enters the mind and no matter how many times you tell it that you’re not going to accept it, it keeps reminding you of its presence.

There are times, I admit, when I sense that the negative energy has permeated (and dominated) my consciousness.  Sometimes it’s just a “gut” feeling that I am surrounded by it; sometimes I hear people talking about a subject that carries with it the negative energy.  Other times, I know I am just so fatigued, and at those times I am just so vulnerable to those thoughts full of melancholy, sadness, worry, and fear.  Oh how I especially despise those times of fatigue-induced negative thinking! 🙂

Fortunately, I have learned that there is a “place” I have learned I can go when the negative energy is unleashing its wrath upon me.  It’s a place that I have created within myself that is walled with an attitude of gratitude.  When I feel that negativity gets me down, I start to mentally create a list of all of the wonderful things I enjoy in my life, and all of the things I have come to appreciate.

I can start with my health, the fact that I have two wonderful daughters and a loving and caring wife.  I can continue with the thought of how they all have good health, and how fortunate we all are to be alive and enjoy each day with each other.  I can’t help but feel blessed that I get to stand before wonderful people on a regular basis and teach them a subject I love (anatomy and physiology), and that I get paid to do it.  I feel so much thankfulness in my heart that I have a wonderful community of friends and family.  I have a warm place to call home and food on my table.  I can feed my family.  I have a great life.  I am so grateful for so many things.  Once I start to mentally list all the things I am grateful for, I can’t help but chuckle at myself at the notion that I believed that negativity could temporarily take a hold of me…

The simple act of thinking about what we are grateful for is so powerful.  It immediately takes us to an emotional state that embodies relief, pleasure, and gratification.  It’s impossible to hold both positive and negative emotions within our consciousness at the same time.  By flooding your conscious awareness with nothing but positivity, it’s like flushing out the negativity to the point where it almost seems impossible that it was even there in the first place.  As soon as those “drops” of negativity start to fill our conscious “vessel” of thoughts, all it takes is another “flood” of gratitude to again flush them out.

The more often we can practice this exercise of going to this “haven” of gratitude, the more readily we can assume the position of being grateful.  Just like any other skill, if we can learn to quickly assume a state of gratitude, we can quickly eliminate the negativity.  It’s kind of like taking a “shower” of positive energy to wash away the negativity before it penetrates deeply within us.

What are some things you are grateful for?  Do you have some aspects of your life for which you can immediately appreciate how wonderful your life is?  I’d love to hear about what gives you that deep, profound sense of gratitude!  Please share!

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