How To Stay Positive

Positivity has been fairly key to getting through the last few months with as little damage to myself, my friends and my family as possible.  It is not easy to be positive when you have got things going on whether they are medical, financial or anything else but I have got a few tips for things that I have tried to do to help me.

Set your wallowing limits

This is an old, well practised strategy of mine.  If something goes wrong or something is tough, let yourself be sad/angry or whatever negative feeling comes but set yourself a time limit – for example, give yourself a day and then move on and start focusing on the positives.  Disclaimer – this didn’t work too well when I was on the drugs, I didn’t really have control over how I felt!

Remember – This too shall pass

I think it is important to be able to look past whatever is challenging your positivity, whether that is looking to the end of a recovery or looking forward to events in the future.  Making plans for the future has helped to keep my mind on track and given me something to aim for.

Count your blessings

I firmly believe that whatever you are going through you can identify things in your life that are good!  This was an easy one for me during this recovery, I have so many people and things to be thankful for.

Remember someone else is worse off

Obviously this is completely dependent on what your particular challenge is but I’m sure you can always find someone else’s situation that puts yours into perspective.  When I was on crutches, I watched a lot of videos and films of people (real and fictional) who have been paralysed or had amputations which completely stopped me from feeling sorry for myself! Who recognises this film?

Exercise

If you can’t make yourself feel more positive by persuading your brain that you should, the scientific way should help.  We’ve all heard it before – when you exercise your body releases endorphins and endorphins make you happy.  One of the most frustrating parts of my recovery was not being able to exercise as much as normal but from the second day I was allowed to do my rehab exercises and each week I have been allowed to do more and more.  It makes me feel stronger and it makes the light at the end of the tunnel shine brighter!

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