Image by: Pavlofox
By James Reubin
I married a woman who is the total opposite of me and I have to say that it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life.
I used to see her as someone who was always worried about something. Small things used to trouble her and she would always deal with problems in a persistent, yet very uneasy manner.
Before she came into my life, I used to be a happy-go-lucky type of person. I never liked wasting energy on worrying and stressing myself too much about my personal problems. I was cheerful about my perspective and I believed in living one day at a time.
I didn’t have long-term goals because I was always focused on my current situation. As a result, I never took my failures seriously and I messed up my life and my finances.
When I met her, I was in a “state of calamity”; I just lost my job, I was in debt and was trying all sorts of ways to make money.
She offered help but I refused to take it. I kept telling her and myself, that I was okay and that everything would be alright. But it wasn’t and in fact, it only got worse.
It is possible to transfer negative thoughts into powering life’s journey.
She was worried about my future because I didn’t have any savings. She made me think I wasn’t okay and I hated her for that. I never liked entertaining negative thoughts in my mind because it made me feel like I was a failure.
After some deep introspection, I realized that she was right; my life was in need of serious repair. I started to panic. I began to clearly see the consequences of my mistakes and the danger that was waiting ahead if I didn’t make the necessary changes.
Sometimes panic and anxiety keep us safe, allow us to survive, and help us achieve success.
When I had my freak out, it was like a switch got flipped and my mind went into “active mode” to help me pull myself together.
For instance, did you know that negative emotions can be harnessed and used for something beneficial? It’s true! We can use that power to create better things and to make our lives easier.
You can revise your understanding of negative energy and learn to transform it so you can have it at your disposal.
When I came across this article by Rimi Chakraborty titled “8 Struggles Only an Introvert Can Understand When It Comes to Flirting with Women,” I thought that it was just another list of descriptions that didn’t really offer a solution.
However, upon reading the whole piece, I was impressed because it actually turned the tables around for introverts.
It’s all about changing the situation to your favor, grabbing the opportunity and not letting your weaknesses take away your path to happiness.
The writer presents workarounds on how, with little effort, introverts can turn their struggles into their advantage.
For example, a man can use his lack of conversation skills to generate curiosity in his crush and make himself more mysterious and interesting.
A shift in perspective to turn something negative into something positive can be really hard, but we all have to start at some point.
Tom Gardner’s piece on why pessimism sounds so intellectually captivating is also presented on a positive highlight.
He said that anticipating undesirable outcomes is the best indication of what’s unsustainable and the best catalyst for what must change.
For entrepreneurs, it sounds profound to respond strongly to loss rather than gain. Treating threats as opportunities gives them a better chance to survive in the business.
Treat bad events as a slow chapter and not the end of the story.
We can apply the same principle in our personal lives by looking at these negative things or “value judgments” as something that requires action.
So, next time you feel disheartened and bothered by some negative emotions, don’t feed into them. Instead, step back, take a moment and think about how you can use the energy differently.
Take your time in processing your thoughts and learning the works. Don’t be too quick in judging the situation.
And speaking of judgement, I think that one of the most misunderstood words of all time is – FAT.
We prefer low-fat food because we think that fat is harmful to our body. Well, it’s not that bad. Actually, you need it to bulk up.
And to know more about preserving calories and using healthy dietary fats for the right workout, check this out – “5 Tips for Gaining Lean Muscle Mass without Getting Fat.”
Life is about balance.
There are setbacks and failures that we cannot change, but they should help us gain perspective and give us a wider approach to things.
To counterbalance the negative energy, work on adding enthusiasm, excitement and positivity in your life by doing these “16 Habits of Happy People That Prove Happiness is All About the Choice You Make.”
Turn negative energy in your favor and use it to power your emotional journey. Don’t let it go to waste. Utilize it to have leverage and to find opportunity to be inspired whenever you are facing a difficult situation.