Don’t react to every negative situation

There are times when we are challenged by negative situation or negative people. Like what happened to my friend one morning. A close relative raised her voice on her over a trivial matter. Instead of shouting back at her relative, my friend just looked at her in the eyes. I asked her why she reacted that way and her answer was, “I could sense that she had a rough sailing in her life and lots of problems to hurdle. I put myself in her shoes. By being calm with the situation, I felt good. I felt I had the power to control myself.”

Sam Grier of the itmanagersinbox.com states, “We all face negative situations in our life. Someone may say something bad about you or something you’ve worked hard is rejected. Your natural inclination is to release your inner Hulk and bash. This negative reaction will make the circumstances worse and you will end up filled with disappointment and anger.”

Grier advises, “You can beat negative situations by keeping a positive attitude. The attitude you take when faced with negative situation is a choice. ..”

Here are rules to help us stay positive as suggested by Grier.

Control your response. The golden rule of staying positive in a negative situation is to control your response. Take a deep breathe, count 1 to 10, do whatever it takes to remove yourself from the negativity. Wait until you calm down and have thought clearly about your response. If you respond out of emotion you will only make it worse. Remember Thumper’s rule, “If you can’t say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all.” This is a good advice when you find yourself in a negative situation.

Learn from negative situations. Look at a negative situation or event as an opportunity to learn and grow personally. Albert Enstein said, “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” Don’t channel your energy into a negative reaction, but into something positive that will make the situation better, not worse. Train yourself to control the situation, instead of allowing the situation to control you.

If you make a mistake, admit it. We are human so we all make mistakes from time to time. When you need to step up, admit it. If you make a mistake that leads to negative situation, admit it, learn from it, and move on.

Maintain a positive view. Don’t allow your opinion of someone to become jaded by a negative situation. Keep a positive view about a person or situation and don’t jump to conclusion. Be proactive in dealing with adverse circumstances, not reactive.

Accentuate the positive. Emphasize your positive attitude by your actions and in your words. Eliminate any negative thoughts generated from a negative situation. Nothing good is gained from a negative reaction. Don’t flip-flop between positive and negative. When negativity comes to you remove yourself from the situation. Keeping a positive attitude in a negative situation is hard, but if you work at it you will learn to overcome your emotional reactions.