Three Basic Methods for Dealing With Negative Emotions
When dealing with negative emotions, focusing on the basics is often where you need to start. When basic concepts don’t work, seeking professional help is likely the next best step. With that said, there are three basic methods for healing yourself from negative emotions.
- Embrace the negativity as a passing season and make the best out of it.
- Find the source or root cause of the negativity and do whatever it takes to remove it from your environment.
- Overwhelm the negativity with positive or neutral thinking
Ideally, you would only take the first option when the vast majority of the negativity is a result of things out of your control. Complaining about things you can’t control only makes a bad thing worse. This is a classic case when you need to make the proverbial lemonade out of the lemons. Embrace the negativity, but don’t let it take over.
Option 2 is the best approach when you do have control over who or what is bringing the negativity into your environment. You remain in this negative environment because you have gotten comfortable even though it’s bringing you down. Once you become self-aware of the situation, it’s up to you to force yourself out of your comfort zone and remove the source or root cause of the negativity.
The final option is always a choice in any situation. It is often difficult to think positive, but with practice you can learn to see the positive in nearly any situation. If positive thinking is too difficult for the moment, then start by learning how to be a neutral thinker. Either way, you must look within for inspiration, not to the external environment. This starts with controlled breathing and ends with controlling your thoughts with intention.