Turning Negatives Into Positives
At the suggestion of Lightuptheworld, I thought I'd start another 'Turning Negatives into Positives' thread like there is on the old forum. Below is a quote from Antria who started the thread on the previous forum which I think explains the idea of the thread quite well.
"Sometimes it can be helpful to turn our thinking around and begin to challenge the way we look at things. Turning negatives into positives is a way of doing this! Basically, think of something that happened today, this week, this month or at some other time that felt negative and see if you can find a positive in it (or that came out of it)."
I find posting in this thread really helps me to look at things in a different way or see positives that I might not have noticed if I'm in a negative headspace. I'll start the ball rolling:
Negative: My friend didn't turn up to class this morning and I was worried I would be alone because I don't really know anyone else in the class.
Positive: It gave me a chance to sit with new people and get to know them better 🙂
Over to you!
Positive: I'm feeling more calm as compared to before.
Positive: took my meds really early, gonna try sleep this off.
Sounds like you were having a really hard time yesterday @redhead , are you feeling a bit better now?
Positive: I'm not feeling as angry anymore. I can do this, I just need to find the right professionals that suit me.
Positive: this can't last forever, hopefully I'll come down slowly and not crash and burn Luke last time I was manic.
Negative: said goodbye to mum and won't be seeing her until I go to visit her in Sweden in July. She didn't said she was really worried about me before she said goodbye and made me promise to stay safe.
Positive: it was a pleasant goodbye. And usually I'm very glad when she goes away, but I'm a little sad now which is a good thing because it means mum and I are getting closer.
Negative: when do I see things. it's not fair.
Positive: I've had worse hallucinations so I shouldn't complain.
Negative: this high is making me think some very weird things. Like the other night I was convinced the voices were going to kill me if I went to sleep. And I thought that my food had been poisoned. And other stuff. I'm finding it hard to know what is real and what isn't. I'm so confused.
Positive: ?
Pos: The issue hopefully gets fixed. If it doesn't I'll just start eating as I work and if my boss doesn't like that well too bad - follow the law and I won't do the "wrong thing".
Are you acting on the hallucinations and voices @redhead? For example, did you still go to sleep and eat your dinner even though you were having weird thoughts about it? If so, that's definitely a positive. You've been able to ignore them, which is a step towards controlling/managing them.
Negative: couldn't stop crying in therapy today
Positive: it was kinda good for her to know what was going on
Negative: I can't keep myself safe anymore
Positive: I guess it's good that I'm getting admitted to hospital.
@redhead it sucks that you're not feeling safe, but I'm glad you were able to recognise that and seek some help. Hope everything is going well
Negative: Just finished my first assignment of the semester and I don't feel confident about it at all
Positive: Everyone has been having loads of trouble with it so it's not a reflection on me. I just have to hand it in and hope for the best
Positive: maybe now they will listen to me
Hey @redhead - really sorry to hear that. It should not take such drastic and potentially permanent measures to make the people around you listen and take you seriously. I hope you are safe and continue to use your support network, including crisis lines like Suicide Call Back Service when you feel at risk.
@redhead Sorry to hear what happened yesterday. I hope you get the support you need.
Positive- it's ok
Negative- still not really coping
Positive- I had a good day with mum yesterday, so it's nice to know I can still go out and have a good time
pos: I've organised a meeting for tonight and was able to have a rant with my sister.
neg: Back to not being able to sleep again
pos: My sister was on the night shift so I was able to talk to her between jobs. It also meant that I could head to the farmers market really early.
neg: Lady that got on the same bus as me triggered me really badly b/c she smelled of the same cigarette that my abuser smoked.
pos: She is a lady and looks nothing like my abuser, I've met her briefly before when I was out doing activism and seemed really nice.
neg: Knowing all of this didn't help
pos: As soon as I got off the bus, I felt safe again
neg: So many people at the markets.
pos: Adrenaline was still pumping through my body, so I was able to quickly maneuver the crowds and do quick side steps to avoid running into people. Plus I got some pretty sweet deals. 🙂
Negative: Been feeling pretty low in mood/energy recently and haven't been having the greatest time of it.
Positive: I've managed to push myself to be way more productive today than I have been recently which has improved my mood 🙂
Positive: I still managed to keep up with meeting a friend.
Negative: Feeling overwhelmed and swamped with prac stuff right now, so much to do! 😧
Positive: I know exactly what I have to do now! Even if my to-do list is a whole typerd A4 page!
Negative: I am feeling very unmotivated to get it done. It just seems like a whole lot of crap! I kinda just want it to be over.
Positive: I'm getting there. I can double a lot of it up because of how I've done my planning! I have this week left then I hand it in the following week! Then I'm done for 2-3 months!! 🙂
Negative: My usual supervisor at prac has taken holidays for the next two weeks, so I won't finish with her. I'm not feeling vrey confident about this week because I got very used to her and we worked really well together.
Positive: My supervisor for this week is awesome regaurdless. I've worked with her last week and my intro days! I will be fine.
Negative: Not feeling so great again today. Went through some time where I just couldn't be bothered anymore. Had my teacher come to placement to see how I was going, today. I don't feel any better for talking to her, nor do I feel like my questions were answered. It all kinda just went in one ear out the next. My focus is really crap right now! 😞
Positive: I'm trying! My teacher knows about some of the stuff going on now, so I've got a little bit of leniency but not much. Basically I need to get it all done, but I don't need to stress about my hours. (phew)
Negative: I've just figured out why I've struggled to get some experiences completed! 1. my own anxiety, 2. There is always so many staffing changes in the room I'm doing my prac and I'm not coping with that! I'm finding it really hard!
Positive: I've done awesome so far!!! I think I'm back on track! 2 Experiences tomorrow, and I'm done!! I just need to remember what D said I just need to do my best, and if it fails, it's a learning chance, I can reflect on that and learn from it.
Negative: My own insecurities make it incredibly hard for me to cope when what I'd planned doesn't turn out the way I thought it would!
Positive: This is an area for growth! I CAN become more comfy with my ideas not working out 100% all the time!!! 🙂 I think I just need to ease off the pressure on myself!!!
Negative: Felt incredibly triggered last night. I was in a terrible, terrible and dangerous place.
Positive: I logged into Eheadspace! Even though I wasn't able to get through to talk to someone, the 30min conversation I had while booking in a time for with my reg clinitian helped me to be able to settle off to sleep!
Pos: I've gotten through it.
Neg: using my phone data because dad stuffed the net again.. so irritating when i just want to chill online for a bit after a long hard day 😕
Pos: i will survive. Going to do some journalling after chilling here for a bit. Journalling will allow me to get some of the stuff out fairly easily...
Pos: I know what I'm doing, I've really just got to put it onto paper properly in the required formats!
Neg: Feeling incredibly unstable and unpredictable. I feel like I don't know how I am. Complete disconnection with myself.
Pos: I'm fighting through. I will not give up!
Neg: FIghts at home again.
Pos: I'm trying to relax and calm myself down before bed tonight.
Positive - It is so exciting the prospect of going back to uni.
Negative - Sick and headachy really have no energy
Positive - So glad its a holiday over here so I can rest
Negative - Broke up with my bf 😞
Positive - I get to know myself more as an adult
Positive: I haven't seen her for 6 months and it could go ok
Negative: really struggling with my urges
Positive: I haven't given in yet and I have a good safety plan.
Negative: I'm procrastinating so I don't have to fill in applications and all that kind of jazz.
Positive: My procrastination actually means I'm getting other stuff done that I was previously procrastinating about, haha.
Positive: Good future experience and this might help me get better jobs because I can deal with so much stress. Day off today 🙂
