How to Stay Positive as You Cope with Negativity

When Negativity Tries to Steal Your Day

Somedays you find yourself in a little bit of a stormy mood. Maybe your day didn’t go quite as you planned, maybe you read the daily news and saw something that hit a nerve, or maybe you just woke up feeling ‘off.’ When you’re feeling stormy, you might hear others tell you that you should focus on the positive. But how do you actually do that? And let’s face it … in the storm is a difficult time to think clearly. Instead, let’s talk about a way to cope with negativity when you’re not struggling with a mood so you can be better prepared to face one when it comes.

When we experience something that we perceive as negative, we tend to focus on it. By that, I mean, we filter the rest of our day through that lens. Then, even if we experience other things that are positive, we let the shadow of that one negative thing dampen the good stuff. We might have one or two disappointing things happen to four or five that we’re grateful for, but we might still get home and say our day was kind of meh.

It’s hard to hold the positive moments in the face of those negative ones, but we can turn our attitudes around.

**Keep in mind: This exercise is not meant to be used as a way of dismissing or ignoring negative emotions. Negative emotions are telling us something important. This is only a coping strategy when you need a different perspective. Counseling is a great way to work through negative emotions when you feel stuck in them.

Holding Positive Moments

Here’s one thing you can try to turn that blah feeling into a smile. 

Think about your day. What are some things you remember about it that you enjoyed or you’re super thankful you get to have in your life? It’s okay if it takes a few minutes. You can jot them down, so you remember them. 

Now, look at the list and pick one to sketch. Open a new sketchbook page, and draw or hand letter something about that thing or that moment that you want to remember. 

Everyday this week, pick a new thing or a couple of new things to add to your page. Make it a drawing collage: you can turn the drawings sideways or fit them tightly between two things or even draw them upside down. Make it the way you like it. By the end of the week, see if you can fill the whole page with lovely thoughts and memories. 

How it Helps Us Stay Positive

Each time we remember something that we enjoyed, we relive that moment in our memory. We get to experience the feelings and details all over again. That reliving helps us hold onto the positive feelings that were there. When we sketch it, it happens again. And … because we sketched it, we can look at it whenever we want to … giving us even more chances to relive those moments. 

I love our family vacations, and I want to remember all of the details to help me look forward to the next one. For the last several years, I’ve been making these sketch collages in my notebook with my morning coffee, as I listen to the waves and look out at our favorite beach. It makes me so happy to look at it because each word, each sketch is a positive memory I want to hold. 

I wonder what you’ll come up with to help you stay positive. 

If you’d like a fun sketchbook to keep your memories in, you can choose from several designs here. Or if you want one especially for your beach vacations, you can find the ocean heart one here.