A Path to Being #6: Negativity – A Block That Interferes With Your Connection To Inner Self

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Have you ever wondered what being immersed in a bed of negativity can do to you? Have you thought about its effects on your body including your health & wellness, energy level, motor coordination, functional endurance? What about your spirit or spirituality including your motivation, drive, essence, inner self? Do you ever ponder if it can affect your psyche including your personality, moods, awareness, focus ability, critical thinking skills, concentration levels? Do you think you need all these things to survive and exist? Are you even concerned? Do you want to control the negativity in your life?

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If you said yes to any of the above, then why would you allow yourself to be in any negative situation at all? Yes, I can hear what you’re saying……”You can’t avoid all negativity in your life. That’s impossible! You must be nuts! Are you crazy?” I may be a little crazy, but I do think we need to wake up and start doing the things we can do to decrease or control the negativity in our lives. The following will be an overview about negativity.

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What does too much negativity do to your body? There have been studies that actually have shown that when negativity causes stress, this leads to the development of high blood pressure, an increased heart rate, elevation in cholesterol and triglycerides, stomach disorders like irritable bowel syndrome and ulcers, obesity, headaches, asthma, diabetes, increase rate of aging, autoimmune diseases. The list can go on and on, but I think you get my point. Negativity can adversely affect your body in so many bad ways that it is actually frightening.

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Negativity can also adversely affect your connection to your inner self & essence. Spirituality is the drive to search for a deeper connection to your being. It is something that is universal and gives us a deeper sense of being alive. It interconnects all of us and keeps us grounded. Without it we are less than our real selves. Less spirituality means we have more facades and walls to hide behind. We become more superficial, more plastic. We get more materialistic and power hungry. We might as well be robots. What a sad, one dimensional world this would be without a healthy, spiritually focused life.

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Finally, negativity can definitely adversely affect our psyche. When we are bombarded with stress, negative people, chaos, demands and pressure, our brain gets over stimulated and overloaded with negative energy. The brain, when overloaded, is programmed to go into a survival mode. This triggers the flight or fight syndrome which is a primitive response to danger.

If triggered too much, the results can be costly. There are so many people developing panic attacks today, where they suddenly get short of breathe, are panicked and terrified to the highest level, have an increased heart rate & an overwhelming need to take flight, & a sense of total dread. These people eventually are unable to work, leave the house, or be in crowds. That is a life of self-imposed imprisonment. Would you want to live this way?

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Negativity on the psyche can also lead to depression, eliciting bad addictive behaviors, a need to take medication, create the inability to focus or do critical thinking skills at important times. Ultimately it will lead people to have a life of isolation and possible suicidal tendencies. That is a life not worth living if this situation continues indefinitely.

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So why wouldn’t anyone want to try to control the negatives in their lives? Why would we spend the ultimate price for something that we can all try to do something about? What are we waiting for? What is your excuse? Why not finally do something for yourself? How can you help others if you can’t first help yourself? Any more excuses? Hopefully your answer will be, “What can I do to start helping myself?”

If you read my previous post, A Path to Being #4, I taught you how to make a list of negative elements in your life. I also asked you to list the positives so you could get an overall perspective on your situation. Having identified your negative elements, you can list them according to level of impact on you or according to what you can immediately take control of.

For instance, maybe you identified toxic people who cause you stress or self-doubt. Immediately distance yourself from them. Why hang on when you are paying the ultimate price? It’s not worth it. Nor are they.

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Other quick fixes are to start doing things that you enjoy and make you happy. If you’re not sure, make a list of what makes you happy. List everything even though you may think that it is silly. Putting it all out there can give you a better perspective of where your happiness lies. Keep that list nearby and when you need a happy moment, check your list and do it. Your goal here is to put you on a path toward happiness and away from negative exposure or thinking.

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Another thing to do is to focus on what you are grateful for. This helps to shift your mind from the negative to the positive. Do an affirmation daily like “this is going to be a great day”, “I am positive, because I have the right to be”, “I am happy because I deserve to be”, etc. These daily affirmations and/or gratitude statements can eventually train your brain to be positive.

“We are all here for some special reason. Stop being a prisoner of your past.
Become the architect of your future.”
– Robin Sharma

You also must learn to forgive. This includes the events in the past that have caused you great stress. It is the past and a long time ago. Forgive and move on. Don’t let the past have any more control over you. Instead of the past, focus on the now. What abundance do you have right this moment?

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It is vital to connect with nature. Get outside more. Take a walk in the park, go on a hike in the woods, sit on the sand and watch the waves, drive to a place that is peaceful and quiet. Breathe deeply, taking in the positive fresh air and exhale the negative out. Deep breathing is always a helpful relaxation technique.

Don’t let negative or toxic people
rent space in your head.
Raise the rent and
kick them out!
–Robert Tew

Start reprogramming your brain to stop taking what negative people say, personally. Keep in mind that these people are often projecting their own short comings or insecurities. They may say something bad about you but in actuality they are talking about themselves. They enjoy when you react to what they said so don’t react at all. Just ignore them.

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Another really key thing is to hang around positive people who make you feel good. Happiness and positivity can be contagious. Pull yourself away from negative people who only will pull you down further. You don’t need that in your life.

“If you have good thoughts they’ll shine on your face
like sun beams and you will always look lovely.”
– Roald Dahl

Do a paradigm shift and try to change your perspective on life. Choose to be happy and positive, instead of having a “victim” attitude. Laugh more and smile. You will be surprise how much you get back when you give off good vibes and intentions.

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Start helping others and show more caring concerns . You will definitely see a major change in how a positive attitude and behavior can have on those around you. It can be contagious.

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Try new things, be daring. A sense of freedom can lift your spirits and the people around you will notice in a positive way.

“The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are afraid to do.”
– Unknown

I am sure that there are many more other ways to distance negativity from your life. Maybe you will come up with more. I would love to hear them. The main thing I want to impress upon you is that, negativity is not worth the cost to you. It is bad for your health, your well-being and your spirit.

Learn to fly free with no strings attached and then you will know pure joy and happiness. Have no regrets and look for better opportunities to experience a happier existence. That is what I am doing and I have never felt so content, happy and alive. Do it for yourself, because you are worth it. Never short change yourself. You are too good and valuable not to be happy!

There comes a time in your life,
when you walk away from all the
drama and people who create it.
You surround yourself with people
who make you laugh.

Forget the bad, and focus on the
good. Love the people who treat you
right, pray for the ones who don’t.

Life if too short to be anything but
happy. Falling down is a part of life,
getting back up is living.

-Jose N. Harris

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