I'm pretty much an optimistic person. But there are still times when no matter how I try to motivate myself, I'm still overwhelmed with negative emotions such as worries, doubts and feeling of failure. Finally, I understand where all these negative emotions are coming from, what’s its purpose and how to handle it.

First, understand that thinking negatively is actually a human nature. That's how our brain is wired. Our mind’s game plan is survival. Its main purpose is to protect us by eliminating change and keeping us in comfort zone. It’s called Cognitive Bias. In the past, it helped our ancestor to survive. Whenever they hear an unfamiliar sound, the mind thinks of threat so the body can prepare to defend. See? our negative thoughts are not a bad thing at all. It protects us, keep us safe and helps us survive. But sometimes it goes overboard, that these negative thoughts cause stress, hinder us from going big and scare us from change.

The truth is negative thoughts are inevitable. It’s always there, popping in your mind whenever it wants. But the good news is you can handle it. And no, it’s not by thinking positive thoughts. In fact, if you try to think contrary to the thought, you might amplify it even more. It’s like your brain will tell you, “See, you are trying to push the negative thought away because you know it’s true”.

All it takes is acceptance. Acknowledge the thought. This way, you are removing the tension and this will allow you to get your brain on board in overcoming the negative thoughts. Simply put, it’s like telling your brain “hey, I get this. You are right to say that this thing is worth worrying, the doubt is valid that it might be a wrong decision, I might fail and its scary to try new things. However, we will never really know until we get there. Besides, I can learn from this experience and it will make me a better person no matter what the result is. With this, you acknowledge the negative thought that its true but tolerable and you are willing to deal with whatever result it might have.

It also helps to keep an archived of exemplary examples. Sometimes, our mind tends to give us negative thoughts because it’s tapping in to the things we have in mind. We could be keeping an archived of negative experience we experience ourselves or we see from other people. We might have accepted negative thoughts relayed by our parents, teachers, friends and other people we spoke with. So, it’s best to reprogram our memory bank. Recall your own success stories. Find exemplary people who overcome their own negative thoughts. Feed your mind with empowering thoughts. As they said, garbage in garbage out; positive thoughts in, positive thoughts out. Don’t wait until you’re feeling down before you look for positive thoughts or exemplary examples. Keep a habit of keeping your thoughts in good or positive shape.

Personally, I feed myself with positive thoughts daily by journaling. I usually read a passage or two from the Bible, meditate on it and see how I can apply it in my personal life. On days I feel uninspired, I read back my old journals and it usually put me back on track.

Finally, take action. Get up on our feet and do something.  Instead of wasting your time and energy dwelling on your thoughts, start focusing on the solution. Even if you are loaded with positive thoughts or exemplary examples, it’s no use until you put it in to actions. Let’s not confuse inspiration to getting things done. So yeah, just do it.

That’s about it. I hope this short post will send a ray of sunshine to someone who needs it.