3 Ways to Be Positive (During Negative Times)

Surround yourself with pizza and positivity, so says my t-shirt. Well, I’ve got pizza… positivity, though? I’ll call that a work in progress.

Let’s be real for a sec: Maintaining a positive attitude right now is hella hard. The smallest things can irk even the most level-headed mamas. It doesn’t help that the most common tips for promoting personal positivity are:

Surround yourself with positive people. Right… my toddlers are fully in “no mommy!” mode because I told them they had to nap in their beds and not the front hall closet while caressing the dustpan. Not exactly beacons of happiness right now.

Fill your mind with positive news and knowledge. Um…the news is a hard pass for us at the moment, unless there is actual “breaking” info being shared by one of our respected leaders or trusted resources.

Ok, so far we’re 0 for 2.

So how the heck do we get past our moments of slumpiness and fake it till we make it or until we legitimately learn new, happier behaviours?

3 ways to be positive during negative times:

Decide your reaction ahead of time. While we’re in isolation it’s inevitable: Your kids WILL boil your blood. Your patience WILL run out with a family member. Your doggo WILL poop on your floor (I don’t have a dog so correct me if I’m wrong, but if my toddlers sporadically feel the desire to poop on the floor, I’m assuming your pooch will, too.) If you plan how you will react to known situations it highly diffuses your stress response when xyz actually occurs.
Make someone else feel happy. This one is tough, especially if your attitude is too cool for school. But if you give the gift of happy to another human, your spirits have no choice but to lift. Unless you’re a sociopath.
Find the funny. Laugh. Seriously, just laugh. I used to tell new mom friends that if you don’t laugh you’ll probably cry, and while crying can be an awesome release and definitely serves a purpose at times, laughing is just such a better option. If you can find humour in your negativity, trust me, you will launch yourself miles ahead of your crusty demeanor.

- Today instead of getting into an argument with my daughter over why she was being such a crusty sourpuss and throwing her water bottle at me 30 times in a row, I scooped her up and “threatened” her with mommy-tickles which turned into a full out giggle-fest for both of us and ended with her planting a big ol’ smooch on me. Mission accomplished.