We’ve all come to understand the importance of physical distancing to help curb the spread of COVID-19, but it occurred to me earlier this week that perhaps another form of distancing is equally important. Negativity distancing is not a term, but maybe it should be.
I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’m mentally exhausted almost every day. Some days, it’s hard to stay positive, but let’s face it, one of the few things we can control right now is our mindset. Would you rather be stuck in negativity all day long, or would you rather try to find the good? And even though it sometimes doesn’t seem that way, there’s so much good in the world even now. You may just have to look a little harder some days.
For me, negativity distancing means limiting my news intake, limiting my time on social media, and cutting myself off when I start to think too much about current events.
One way to help me find the good is my gratitude journal: every night before I go to bed, I list at least three things I’m grateful for. And even in these dark times, it’s surprisingly easy to come up with far more than three most days.
Will you join me in negativity distancing? Let’s make it a thing!
I have been thinking this as well. I decided I might add a day of wearing my clothes inside out just to bring a bit of humor into the world!
Thank you for verifying my dumpy, unmotivated feelings, so I know others are feeling the same things; and also having the same solutions as I’ve come up with, like counting my blessings, and practicing gratitude..There are so many out there that are in dire circumstances..I always call on my savior, for calming reassurance..
That’s a great idea to have a ‘gratitude journal’. I, too have my good days and my bad days, but the best we can do is take one day at a time and try to be as positive as possible. If we’re negative then we’ll just get into a slump and the more depressed we’ll get. Together all of us with the help of Conscious Cat will make it through and we’ll be much more strong and a more loving person.
Love to all my friends on CC.
Wonderful!!!!! Good ideas.
Thank you for your insights.
Thank you for your post. It helps to remind me we are all in this together. I love the gratitude journal ❣
It is very hard to stay positive. This is a good quote. Have a nice week.
I like the idea of “negativity distancing”. The negative is what is pushed into the news headlines and it is exhausting and depressing. Limiting news intake is a good place for me to start. Thank you for sharing this:)
Amelie, my little tortie likes to watch the world go by sitting back on her bum with her back legs out in front and her front paws resting in her lap.. Sometimes I just sit down beside her to try to get her perspective on things and in that time, life is good and I find myself calming down and smiling.
Your description of Amelie made me smile, Ais. Sitting down next to her sounds like a wonderful way to just be and forget about everything else!
Too often we forget to count our blessings and instead concentrate on the negativity around us. My wise son told me some years ago to remove toxic people from my life. I followed his advice and am much happier. This includes leaving my Facebook account inactive. Too much meanness going on there.
Life is good! Be happy! Pet a kitty!
I agree with you. I also work FT and that adds to my mental fatigue. I try to listen to humorous podcasts on my drives to and from work to help alleviate that.
I like the idea of a gratitude journal. This reminds me of my church pastor who was talking once about a gratitude jar. He said him and his family write down things that they are grateful for and put little notes in the jar and when they need encouragement they just pull pieces of paper out to read. I had forgotten all about that until now. I think it’s a good time to start something like this. Thanks for the reminder.
Totally agree and also practice this negativity distancing. I wont allow myself to be mired down with too much news or conversation about it.
Could things be better ? Yep.
Will we get back to normal? Yep.
Do we need to practice patience? Yep.
Can hanging out with my cats and watching how they act calm you down and make you laugh?
Yep !
My suggestion is to watch the Red Green show on YouTube. Laughter is great when you’re down trodden.