If I don't empty my mind, I will go mad
Unlock the power of positive emotions. Positive emotions are essential for happiness. The power of positive thoughts has been underestimated for a long time. Everyone can attain the required positivity ratio. For every negative thought or energy there can be three positive thoughts. You should write down your positive thoughts.
**1**
The power of positive emotions has been underestimated for a long time. The power of negative emotions like fear was so predominant in the lives of ancestors that psychologists turned their attention to these negative emotions. It is only recently that the scientists decided to look at the positive emotions like love, gratefulness, pride or hope that they realized the importance of these feelings and how they can make our lives more happier and comfortable.
**2**
There is the need to develop a positive general attitude towards life. Everyone is born is with this attitude but sometimes happenings around us makes us slip into the negative general attitude. Positive general attitude leads to optimism and happiness. These kind of people see the world in a positive way and in a much more open way. Two groups of people were used for an experimentation. The first group was given lots of positive stimuli like music, paintings and the latter group was given nothing. It was proved that the first group exhibited far more positive attitude towards life than the second group. It is essential that we fill our lives with these positive emotions and stimuli.
**3**
Positive emotions does three things:
1) Broaden our perspective
2) Open up sense of playfulness
3) Broaden our vision
It is noted that the young hussar monkeys leap from one branch to another when they play and this childhood habit of playfulness help them to escape from predators.
The emotion of joy is something important in our feeling of positivity. To be joyful is a great thing.
This emotion can open up our perspective and make us more tolerant about strangers by opening up the common factors that we have with others.
In another experiment people who were happy were asked to look at slide show and it was found that they were able to look at things which others totally missed like the details of the images that was shown in the margins.
**4**
The emotion ratio is another way to be aware of the amount of positive emotions that one need to survive in this world. The negative emotions as mentioned earlier is strong and thus leads to a downward spiral in our emotions. The positivity ratio recommended is 3:1, i.e. for one negative emotion there should be three positive emotion. It is difficult to achieve this ratio but it is worth giving a try.
**5**
There is nothing to worry about this downward spiral that happens because of too much negative emotions. There is always a way to combat these failures that happen when the positivity ratio takes a dip. One fundamental technique is to create good habits that trigger positive emotions and overshadow the negative emotions. Some of the activities recommended in the book are
1) Writing a gratitude letter to someone.
2) Reminding oneself of the accomplishments
3) Talking to someone
4) Going out for a walk
5) Treating yourself to your fav food
I would like to add the following to the list
1) Listening to music ( like what I am doing now)
2) Reading a book or a blink or a magazine
3) Watching a movie
4) Drawing a mindfulness art
5) Going out for a walk
6) Watching a TED session
7) Dance to some tunes
These good habits will eventually help one to overthrow the negative emotions and make the downward spiral into a upward spiral of exuberance of joy and personal growth. You will cultivate the trait of resilience which will help you to combat the negativity that is around you.
**6**
One of the time tested way to cultivate a garden of positivity around you is to watch the emotions that you have. It is recommended that you observe the emotions when you wake up and as you progress through the day. It will help in the analysis of mood swings and accumulation of negative emotions. One of the method that is recommended is to keep a gratitude journal. Certain actions can trigger some kind of emotions. Like talking to your grandmother can trigger the memories about your childhood. Photos, old tickets can serve positive emotional boosters.
**7**
Mindfulness means consciously perceiving and enjoying every moment of your life by willfully focussing on the positive aspects of everything you experience. It also means being aware of all the negative feelings that you experience. These reality helps you to be more evaluative of the negative emotions.
If this doesn’t work then you can try distracting yourself.
Another strategy is to re-evaluate the negative, and try to find something good about it. What can we learn from this situation.
**8**
Mediation is one way to bring in more mindfulness and attention to our lives. Mediation is an ancient Buddhist practice which aims to improve the spirit and the soul by practicing concentration on the present moment.
This heightened awareness is one proven way to reach the 3:1 positivity ratio. Meditation reduces pain, stress and anxiety. Its not just a placebo. It reduces the activity in the regions of the brain that involve negative emotions and increase activity in the parts of the brain’s left hemisphere involved in positive emotions.
The benefits of meditation can be seen if you do it just five minutes a day.
Action advice from the book is:
Keep a gratitude journal
Meditate for five minutes either when you wake up or before going to bed
**1**
The power of positive emotions has been underestimated for a long time. The power of negative emotions like fear was so predominant in the lives of ancestors that psychologists turned their attention to these negative emotions. It is only recently that the scientists decided to look at the positive emotions like love, gratefulness, pride or hope that they realized the importance of these feelings and how they can make our lives more happier and comfortable.
**2**
There is the need to develop a positive general attitude towards life. Everyone is born is with this attitude but sometimes happenings around us makes us slip into the negative general attitude. Positive general attitude leads to optimism and happiness. These kind of people see the world in a positive way and in a much more open way. Two groups of people were used for an experimentation. The first group was given lots of positive stimuli like music, paintings and the latter group was given nothing. It was proved that the first group exhibited far more positive attitude towards life than the second group. It is essential that we fill our lives with these positive emotions and stimuli.
**3**
Positive emotions does three things:
1) Broaden our perspective
2) Open up sense of playfulness
3) Broaden our vision
It is noted that the young hussar monkeys leap from one branch to another when they play and this childhood habit of playfulness help them to escape from predators.
The emotion of joy is something important in our feeling of positivity. To be joyful is a great thing.
This emotion can open up our perspective and make us more tolerant about strangers by opening up the common factors that we have with others.
In another experiment people who were happy were asked to look at slide show and it was found that they were able to look at things which others totally missed like the details of the images that was shown in the margins.
**4**
The emotion ratio is another way to be aware of the amount of positive emotions that one need to survive in this world. The negative emotions as mentioned earlier is strong and thus leads to a downward spiral in our emotions. The positivity ratio recommended is 3:1, i.e. for one negative emotion there should be three positive emotion. It is difficult to achieve this ratio but it is worth giving a try.
**5**
There is nothing to worry about this downward spiral that happens because of too much negative emotions. There is always a way to combat these failures that happen when the positivity ratio takes a dip. One fundamental technique is to create good habits that trigger positive emotions and overshadow the negative emotions. Some of the activities recommended in the book are
1) Writing a gratitude letter to someone.
2) Reminding oneself of the accomplishments
3) Talking to someone
4) Going out for a walk
5) Treating yourself to your fav food
I would like to add the following to the list
1) Listening to music ( like what I am doing now)
2) Reading a book or a blink or a magazine
3) Watching a movie
4) Drawing a mindfulness art
5) Going out for a walk
6) Watching a TED session
7) Dance to some tunes
These good habits will eventually help one to overthrow the negative emotions and make the downward spiral into a upward spiral of exuberance of joy and personal growth. You will cultivate the trait of resilience which will help you to combat the negativity that is around you.
**6**
One of the time tested way to cultivate a garden of positivity around you is to watch the emotions that you have. It is recommended that you observe the emotions when you wake up and as you progress through the day. It will help in the analysis of mood swings and accumulation of negative emotions. One of the method that is recommended is to keep a gratitude journal. Certain actions can trigger some kind of emotions. Like talking to your grandmother can trigger the memories about your childhood. Photos, old tickets can serve positive emotional boosters.
**7**
Mindfulness means consciously perceiving and enjoying every moment of your life by willfully focussing on the positive aspects of everything you experience. It also means being aware of all the negative feelings that you experience. These reality helps you to be more evaluative of the negative emotions.
If this doesn’t work then you can try distracting yourself.
Another strategy is to re-evaluate the negative, and try to find something good about it. What can we learn from this situation.
**8**
Mediation is one way to bring in more mindfulness and attention to our lives. Mediation is an ancient Buddhist practice which aims to improve the spirit and the soul by practicing concentration on the present moment.
This heightened awareness is one proven way to reach the 3:1 positivity ratio. Meditation reduces pain, stress and anxiety. Its not just a placebo. It reduces the activity in the regions of the brain that involve negative emotions and increase activity in the parts of the brain’s left hemisphere involved in positive emotions.
The benefits of meditation can be seen if you do it just five minutes a day.
Action advice from the book is:
Keep a gratitude journal
Meditate for five minutes either when you wake up or before going to bed
