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!
hi everyone,
negative: felt sad thinking about my best friend who died from brain cancer 7 years ago.
positive: made a post about him on FB
negative: really upset because i wanted to smoke after school with some friends but i know I can’t because of my “safety” and rules with mum 😞
positive: i didn’t really like it last time and i know im just trying to hurt myself by smoking. i know it’s not good and i made a good choice to say no
Neg: Feeling a bit low this afternoon. I wanted to do some study but just not in the right space. I just feel sad.
Pos: I know part of the sadness is because I couldn't find any suitable swimming shorts in town today! and my current ones need replacing soon.
Pos: It's circumstantial, maybe something distracting me from that before I look online might help
Neg: Felt self-conscious after trying on a skimming skirt which wasn't even comfortable
Pos: I'll be okay, I'll look online for the store where I bought my current shorts.
Neg: My foot is sore today 😕
Pos: I'm resting it now. It's holding up okay considering what I've put it through this week!
Neg: SO many thoughts in my head right now 😕
Pos: I'm listening to music with Bluetooth earphones, because cords just annoy me right now
Neg: Said headphones won't connect to my laptop, maybe my laptop doesn't have bluetooth. bugger.
Pos: I'm using my phone 🙂
Neg: Feeling really stressed right now - everything seems to just keep piling up for me and I am struggling to cope. I wrote down the wrong date for a mentoring session and I was really needing it but alas I missed it because I stupidly wrote it on the wrong day in my calendar. I'm super stressed about my course right now. Partially because it's just not making sense and I cannot for the life of me understand half of what I am meant to be doing. I feel useless. I'm also stressed because my enrollment is nearing closer to expiring and that line every time I log in is just stressing me out and my brain just will not work properly. I can't seem to find the motivation to even challenge these thoughts, like why am I feeling so reluctant to help myself right now? Which in Turn is making me feel terrible about myself
Pos: I'm crying as I write this. I'm letting myself feel the emotions. I HAVE reached out to a couple friends about the anxiety and stress I've been feeling a bit recently, but I think I have underestimated this.
I'm learning stuff at work and I am retaining it - I've proved that to myself this week. I am capable of doing things well.
I have reached out to others for help. And doing so they have been able to help stabilise my thoughts a little.
It's okay that I missed the appointment. Yes, it's frustrating for me, but I know it's okay. The mentor knows that I've got a lot going on right now with a new job and hours that I'm not really comfortable with.
Neg: I realised this morning that my rego for my car was going to expire tomorrow! I was also frustrated because not all of my paperwork had come in!
Pos: My mechanic is an absolute legend and was able to give my car the once over and the roadworthy stamp of approval for me with no notice. I cannot thank him enough for his heart where this is concerned. I usually book this about 3 weeks in advance as he is usually super busy this time of year so I was super remorseful for just showing up, but he was okay with it.
Neg: Part of my paperwork didn't come in which was super stressful!
Pos: I went the to broker in town who had set up the insurance and manages the insurance for my family and one of his colleagues was able to see me and look up the file and print the receipt once I'd paid for it! Phew!
I managed to complete the rego today which is a huge relief for me!
Neg: I'm feeling anxious after writing this all out and feeling a little silly for my outburst to my friends group chat in messenger 😕
Pos: I am feeling a little calmer though; so that is good! I'm going to message my friends and apologise for my irrationalness and thank them for listening to me 
Neg: Have been so busy lately that I haven't had the energy or time to spend much time on RO 😞 This makes me feel sad
Pos: I know that right now I'm adjusting to a temporary change in my life and that when I go to part-time I will be able to commit more
Neg: I felt sad last night after a thing happened with a friend...
Pos: I had a chat to another friend briefly and then did some colouring before bed
Neg: My body is so stiff and achy and I'm not entirely sure why, I'm frustrated with it.
Pos: I'm going to try and stretch it out
Negative: mum's not been too great the past few days and I'm worried about her.
Positive: She texted me before checking if I was okay. And I feel like I'm able to focus/concentrate better when she's not here.
Negative: I am doubting that I am good enough for an internship and have been really stressing about writing a crappy application
Positive: I reached out to my dad who has a lot of knowledge/experience in the field I am applying for the internship in so he can read it and give me some constructive feed back
Neg: Feeling quite depressed again today. I'm feeling a bit lost within it all, and just feeling fuzzy. I'm ready cry but ready to sleep. I feel messed up right now
Pos: I think some self-care is needed. I might find a light-hearted show (How I met your mother) and watch it while I try to do some colouring
Neg: Felt awkward talking to my GP today, I wanted to talk more about the low feelings, but felt vulnerable as I was laying down for the medical procedure I had to have.
Pos: I managed to get a bit of it out, and my GP was patient with me. She mentioned how she thought I might have been feeling a bit low as I seemed so lethargic and they often coincide.
Neg: Felt awkward when I went to the job search agency. I'm really missing my old consultant again. I still wish she never left, but I know that's unfair on her to want that. I feel a bit lost without her
Pos: I have a nice supportive person now who is helping me with anything I might need for work.
Negative: I'm still looking around everywhere for a job, but nothing seems to be going well in that direction
Positive: I've finally gained enough initiative to actually do the job searching, and even though nothing has come up yet, this is still a big step for me that I've taken which helps me feel productive and like I'm growing 
Pos: meds help a bit.
@redhead That's really hard. Thinking of you
Glad to hear meds help a bit - wish they were able to help you more
Positive: I am not there today. I have worked extremely hard to become fully qualified and i’m not going to let this deter me. I’m working really really hard all day and night to make my own business work, so maybe i won’t have to worry about it for too long.
@Bee I am so, so proud of you for writing this out and shifting your perspective - it can be SO tough.
The feeling of everything piling up is really unpleasant, and I think the fact that you've identified it is great, and the first step to reducing it.
I'm so proud of you for letting yourself feel your emotions. Cry as much as you need to, and I hope that might be cathartic for you. And maybe do some colouring in, even just five minutes? You're SO good at it! 🙂
Reading your post made me cry again, but happy tears.
I plan on doing some colouring at some point. I need to calm myself down a little more first otherwise it won't help me 🙂
neg: in a really bad headspace and wanting to be unsafe
pos: I need to stay safe and I've currently got time out so hopefully this will help with my thoughts 🤞
neg: I can't stop thinking about what happened to me when I was on holidays
pos: its in the past now, yes it was very wrong of them. ill do some positive threads and start making my new positive thread to distract myself
@Libellule an awesome reframe 🙂 It's important to give our bodies a rest after we've done a workout, your body will be thanking you tomorrow! Hopefully the weather is nice in the afternoon if you do go for a walk 🙂
neg: was talking to my design teacher this morning and then i got attacked by the deputy head of high school which put me in a super uncomfortable position.
pos: after that i tried just telling myself this was going to happen at some point and I couldn’t avoid him forever 😞
neg: relapsed , maybe not the smartest decision to do it at school oops
pos: there is going to be up and downs
neg: got NO sleep last night because i sent an angry email to my khl counsellor and was scared she was going to ban me from khl.
pos: this morning i checked my emails and got a pretty positive respond from her THANKFULLY
Pos: I'm going to write an email to my teachers with a couple of questions I have and ask them for their number again! I also know that the head teacher said to contact her if I needed any extra time for the enrollment this year as she knows I had to take time off study due to my surgery which clouded my thinking at the time due to strong pain relief.
Neg: I'm having all of these negative thoughts pop into my head because I'm feeling so stressed out.
Pos: I'm taking a break from study right now. I know I'm not going to be productive when I'm stressed
Neg: My internet cord keeps falling out of my laptop and it does so everytime I go to post this gah
Pos: I know why its going that. I am going to fix it with electrical tape later 😛
