A friend of mine is trying to go an entire day without saying anything negative or having any negative thoughts. Basically, you set a 24 hour timer and if you catch yourself having a negative thought or saying anything negative, you correct yourself and start your timer over again. I don't consider myself a negative person, so I thought I'd try it with her. HA. It's harder than it sounds. After resetting my timer 30-some odd times in less than a week, I gave up.
If you've ever watched the show Friends, it was a lot like Chandler trying not to make fun of his friends for his New Year's resolution.
I was kind of shocked at how many "hidden" negative thoughts I have throughout the day. It really put a spotlight on the areas I need to improve my outlook. For me, a big trigger was traffic. I would have to reset that little timer two or three times just to run to the store. I won't even go into the trials of trying to shop for shoes with a positive outlook.
So, no, I didn't get through an entire day without a negative thought, but now, when someone cuts me off or drives fifteen miles an hour under the speed limit, instead of getting annoyed, I say things like "I hope that person gets home safely!" Or "Maybe the very slow person in front of me is saving me from having an accident." On particularly hectic mornings just that simple adjustment feels like a triumph but I've also noticed it seems to make my day go better.
If anyone else out there has tried this experiment, I'd love to hear how it went!
No comments:
Post a Comment