Is your constant negativity going to send you to an early grave? Everyone strives to be happy. Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to rid all the pessimistic thoughts from your head.
There’s plenty of good days, but it’s the bad days that nearly drive you to the breaking point. Dealing with people and situations alone is enough to make you feel like a pessimist. You have a choice.
You must strip away the thing in life that is bringing your spirits down. Take the time and effort to refocus your energy into being a better person. The most significant detriments to your victory are the negative side of the toxic people you encounter.
Have you ever heard the saying, “If you run with the wolves, you’re going to howl?” This adage speaks volumes. If you are always with people who are negative and feed that pessimistic attitude, then it won’t be long before you lose your optimism.
Your Health Feels the Effects of a Negative Spirit
While having a pessimistic won’t give you brownie points in the office, it can do things to your health. Did you know that people who tend to be negative all the time tend to die earlier than those that glow with positivity?
Dr. Cynthia Thaik did a study on the effects a pessimistic outlook has on your body. As a cardiologist, she found that the heart feels a great deal of the strain caused by the constant oppression. If you have a fit of rage that lasts a mere five minutes, that time can inhibit your immune system for up to six hours later.
Constant negativity and anger can cause the following things:
-
- High Blood Pressure
- Strokes
- Heart Attacks
- Anxiety
- Chronic Headaches
- Circulatory Issues
Stress Damages Your Body
Did you know that being consistently negative can rewire your brain? Yes, just like you can make your mind prone to positivity, you can also make it likely to have a pessimistic outlook.
Take, for instance, a young woman named Crystal. She moved in with her parents to take care of them in their late years. While her mother was sweet and kind, her father was irritable and cranky. He would continuously get onto Crystal for every little thing she did. He was always negative and grumbling, and it got the best of her.
One afternoon, Crystal was trying to help her father, and he exploded on her. The two got into a shouting match. All of a sudden, she didn’t feel so good. Having trained in nursing, she ran and got the blood pressure machine to see if this was the culprit.
She nearly fell over when she saw that her BP was 200/125, and her heart was beating 132 beats per minute. She was a stroke or heart attack, waiting to happen. Thankfully, she knew that she had to calm herself down as this was going to cause her significant problems.
Crystal has never been a yeller or a confrontational person. However, her father’s constant badgering and belittling took her to a negative place where she reacted. Sadly, she became so worked up that she almost ended up in the emergency room. Was it worth it for her to stay in this place?
Crystal learned that she was in a toxic situation, and her father was detrimental to her health. She moved out and let caregivers take care of them, but she still came to visit on occasion. By refocusing her life with positivity, she was able to get her blood pressure problems under control.
Do you have a situation in your life that reminds you of Crystal’s? Maybe it’s a parent, coworker, child, or another relative that is toxic to you? You have the power to cut negative things from your life for the sake of your health.
Ways to Rid a Pessimistic Life
If you want to have good health and want others to enjoy being around you because you’re always so optimistic, here are a few ways to accomplish this task.
1. Acknowledge You Have a Problem
The first step to dealing with an issue is admitting you have a problem. If you don’t see anything wrong with your actions or feelings, then you won’t change. Make a list of all the things that are causing you to be negative.
You’re not happy with your weight, your hairstyle, or some other petty thing. If the root is a toxic person, then you can move on from them.
2. Remove Yourself from Toxic Situations
Are you in toxic situations that are weighing you down? You can’t become an optimist if you are always in a self-deprecating position. These situations can be jobs, relationships, or associations. You will feel so much better when you cut the dead weight out of your life.
3. Seek Positive Outlets in Life
One of the best ways to shape off a negative outlook is by finding some positive outlets. People generally are down on themselves and have pity parties when they don’t realize how blessed they indeed are in life. To change your perspective, why not volunteer some time in a soup kitchen or talking with people at a homeless shelter?
There are plenty of charitable acts that you can do that will fulfill your life and give you a sense of purpose. Many folks go through the daily grind with little to no consideration of how blessed they are. Start counting your blessings in life, and it’s tough to be mad for too long.
4. Find Someone to Talk To
If your life is so overwhelming that you can’t seem to get past a day without crying or feeling blue, then it’s time to get help. It’s easy to be cynical when you’re plagued with depression and anxiety.
Things are maybe going great in your life. You may have a loving family and all the support in the world. Still, that won’t take away the feeling in your heart that you’re lonely and sad. It’s easy to be cynical when you feel horrible on the inside.
Mental illness can do strange things to people, and it can make you feel in ways you never thought possible. Some of the most beautiful individuals can become quite pessimistic when their body isn’t cooperating. It’s worth having a doctor and therapist to get involved if there are no other reasons for the ongoing negativity.
5. Learn to Say No to Things That Trigger Pessimistic Feelings
Do you continuously take on more than you can handle? Do you have a hard time saying no to people even though you don’t have time? Learning appropriate boundaries is not easy, but it can change your whole life.
Anyone can be a negative Nelly when there’s no time for rest and relaxation. Your entire life can’t be about working at your job and home. It will help if you put your needs into the equation, which means learning to say no.
Signs That You’re a Negative Person
1. You Cannot Wait to Go to Bed
One of the hallmark problems with a negative person is they are filled with stress and anxiety. These overwhelming feelings cause you to want to close the world off and be alone. Sleeping resets your batteries and gives you a boost to keep ongoing. However, it’s a sign that your negative nature is wearing you out.
2. You Always See the Negative in Life Before the Positive
Let’s assume you were offered a new position at your job. Do you automatically start thinking of all the negative aspects before you think of the positive ones? If you always find the pessimistic things first, then you may have a problem.
3. You Have a Poor Body Image
Do you know that negative people often don’t like anything about themselves? It wouldn’t matter if you were model material, you would always find something wrong with you.
4. You Complain Constantly
Is every word out of your mouth a complaint? Is there anything in life that pleases you? If you’re always complaining and murmuring about something, you need to change it to a positive outlook for your health’s sake.
5. You Turn Down Compliments
If someone compliments your outfit or your new cologne, do you find a way to throw the compliment back to them? For instance, you have a couple over for dinner, and they rave about how good your house looks, yet you point out all the flaws that tend to drive you crazy. If this sounds like you, then you may have a problem.
Final Thoughts on Getting Rid of Pessimistic Thoughts and Living a Happier, Longer Life
You’ve heard the saying that stress kills. Studies show that this is true. When you’re under stress, it raises your blood pressure, causes you to be anxious and tense, and makes life miserable.
If you want to live a long and prosperous life, you must take control of the negativity surrounding you. It’s time to take on an optimistic outlook on life for the sake of your health.
Community
