Q & A with Dr Happy – how do I stay positive in a negative world?

Q & A with Dr Happy – how do I stay positive in a negative world?

This week’s question is, if I’m to be honest, a mash up of questions from several people. But I’ve combined them into this version because I think it’s something many of us can relate to and many of us would like to know the answer to. So, with that in mind …

Let me begin by noting that although I often ask myself this question, I also often remind myself that there are several assumptions within it that aren’t entirely valid; at least not all the time.

Firstly, there’s an assumption we should always be positive.

But that’s unrealistic! We can try to be positive as often as possible but there’s nothing wrong with feeling down at times, with being upset with what are, indubitably, problems in the world and in our lives.

It’s OK not to be OK all the time. Especially if we’re realistic and acknowledge that there really are some bad things happening in this big old world!

At the same time, however, the world isn’t ALL bad. Far from it. In fact, the world has much more good than bad … it’s just that we don’t necessarily always see this in our mainstream media. I’m not promoting any sort of “fake news” conspiracy theory here, just noting a widely agreed fact that, for a variety of reasons, most of our news sources are negatively bias.

But that doesn’t mean good things aren’t happening. It doesn’t mean there aren’t good people doing good things. There are LOTS of these! And for those who’re interested, check out the Good News Network (HERE), Positive News (HERE), Good Good Good (HERE) which even has this great list of other good news websites (HERE).

I’d also recommend you try something similar in your own, personal life. That is, practice focusing on all that’s good, all that’s going well, and all that you’re grateful for. This doesn’t mean you should pretend EVERYTHING is good, we all have problems we need to face up to and deal with, but it does mean realistically acknowledging where you’re succeeding in life and savouring that as best you can.

So, how do you stay positive?

Well, be realistic and acknowledge the reality of the world, and your life. But keep things in perspective. Focus on what’s good. Do what you can and accept that you can’t do everything. And finally, share positivity as widely as possible because we all need more of that in our lives!