Are you caught up in worry, fear, anxiety, restlessness, and depression? Perhaps, you have been battling with negative thoughts which give you sleepless nights. Then read through to the end. Can negativity be good? Well, there’s a saying that too much of everything is bad. However, researchers discovered that negative thinking could reduce your chances of risk-taking. But, when you become overwhelmed by negativity, it opens you up to several negative effects.
Negative thoughts can have a strong and lasting adverse effect on an individual, such as mood swings, extreme anger, restlessness, anxiety, and depression. However, conquering negative thoughts is not as simple as throwing them away and renewing them with positive ones.
What Is Negativity?
A librarian told a story. She walked into her library with some books in her hand and asked some students, “How heavy are the books I am holding?” The students answered based on the size of the books, but she smiled and replied, “the weight of these books doesn’t matter, what matters is how long I hold the books.” If I hold it for two minutes, it feels very light, but it will make my arms ache for two hours. My hands began to shake for two days, and I went completely numb for two months.
Negative thoughts are similar to the story above. They will have no effect when you think about them for a few minutes. However, when you think it over for a very long time and feel overwhelmed by negativity, you might even have a stroke.
The story above enlightened us more that having negative thoughts is not the problem, but keeping those thoughts in mind for a very long time.
Negativity affects not just your emotional health. Doctors found that individuals who nurse negativity are susceptible to mental disorders, heart attacks or heart failure, indigestion, and slow response to treatment.
What’s Good About Negativity?
Can negativity be good? Well, negative thoughts are essential for our everyday lives. Here are some good outcomes of negativity.
#1. Negative feedback can help you to improve on a given task. Also, it makes you know that you are lagging in your area of interest. An amateur expects negative feedback from a professional to improve.
#2. Researchers discovered that negative people communicate better, make little mistakes, are critical thinkers, and are better at making decisions because negative people have improved “information-processing strategies,” which indicates that they use a significant part of their brain more effectively than happy ones.
#3. Negativity alerts us that there’s danger ahead and makes us pay attention to things around us.
#4. Negative results can make us more focused and think critically to handle the situation.
Adverse Effects Of Negativity.
The advantage of negativity is less compared to the disadvantage. Negative thought and imagination can be normal responses to problems and difficulties. However, prolonged and recurring negative thoughts can lead to severe health challenges. Some adverse effects are:
- Depression.
- Restlessness.
- Chest pain.
- Anxiety.
- Fear.
- Headache.
- Indigestion.
- Stomach upset.
- Sleepless nights.
- Weakness.
- Procrastination.
- Anti-social.
- Forgetfulness.
Prolonged negativity can lead to:
- Mental Illness.
- Stroke.
- Heart attack
- Paralysis.
- Drugs or substance abuse.
- Death.
How To Overcome Negativity
There are several ways you can overcome negativity. It’s not easy throwing negative thoughts away and replacing them with positive ones. However, overcoming negativity is changing the pattern we communicate to our thoughts, and with consistency and determination, it is achievable. Here are tips to overcome negativity:
How To Overcome Negativity #1 – Sing
Researchers discovered that singing helps to relax the nerves, which provides incredible stress relief. Singing is one way of throwing your emotional distress out and embracing a better feeling.
How To Overcome Negativity #2 – Have a gratitude diary
Having a gratitude diary helps you list things you are grateful for, it helps you appreciate all the good things and times you have, and it helps you see the good in every situation.
How To Overcome Negativity #3 – Discard Negative Thoughts
Observe your thoughts and learn to discard negative thoughts, don’t get hooked up by your negative thoughts, and don’t contemplate over and over again. There’s nothing bad in reflecting on the negative because it will help you grow to maturity, but negativity sets in when you dwell on such negative thoughts without any intention of learning.
How To Overcome Negativity #4 – Love Yourself
Stop self-criticism; your inner voice can be your worst enemy. It can tell you how bad you have been and how bad you will be. Stop negative self-talk because it can demoralize and make you lose confidence. Learn to love yourself, take yourself out, go sightseeing, speak positive affirmative words to yourself, do things that nourish and refresh you, and feed your mind and thoughts with things that make you happy.
Overcoming Negativity #5 – Train Your subconscious mind with Positivity
Our brains remember and react to negativity easily, but we can develop the ability to pay attention to the positive happenings around us. It’s a deliberate step of seeking and paying attention to good news and information.
Last Words on Can Negativity Be Good
Can negativity be good? Well, the article has done justice to the question. The mind plays a vital role in our everyday lives, be mindful of what you accommodate, and when it’s giving a dangerous signal, don’t hesitate to throw them out. Negativity can be poisonous if not knocked out.
