Quick question: How are you feeling now? As in, right now? At this very moment?

If you found this post through Social Media, there is a fair chance that you may not be at your best mental/emotional state yourself, having read umpteen social media posts from people writing evocatively about their perfect lives through Instagram stories, Facebook posts, and what not!. All of your friends seem to be living the time of their lives – getting married, having babies, going on vacation at the most exotic of locales, having a blast with their friends, partying, or even, sharing a cozy moment with the love of their lives.

You see all of that, and you look at yourself in the mirror – your life doesn’t seem to be as exciting as theirs. You have overdue bills waiting to be paid, you have accumulated a lot of backlog at work, and to make things worse – your relationships aren’t going great either! The fact that your friends are having a gala time, while you are perhaps sinking – emotionally, and even physically, hurts your ego – and you start feeling depressed.

I know this for a fact, because I’ve been there.

And then, you chance upon the not-so-good part of Social Media – news stories about murder, rape, stories about refugees getting beaten up, and murdered, articles about genocide and terrorism – newspapers openly proclaiming that things are going out of hand, actual people spreading hatred, and what not…

By now, I’m sure that you would have lost it.

If we look at the world around us, we see a lot of negativity, at every nook, and corner of this beautiful planet – destroying its peace, harmony, and beauty. I strongly feel that the biggest curse of the human race, and perhaps even this planet, is the excessive form of negativity around us. Negativity is a cancer, it’s consuming us as we know it, and is destroying us, minute-by-minute, day-by-day. I would say that the effects of Global Warming are even more far-reaching than global warming! In a way, the phenomenon of Global Warming itself is directly associated with the negativity that claws its way through our daily lives.

What is negativity, you ask. It’s essentially an adjective used to define melange of human emotions. Anger, hate, jealousy, doubt, envy, despair, rage, guilt, fear, neglect – any emotion that makes you feel ‘down’, comes under the umbrella of this cancer called negativity. Today, these negative emotions govern our lives. A vast majority of us, are force-fed on a daily note of negativity all through our lives, and sadly, the media has a major role to play in this. As Elliot Carver said famously in Tomorrow Never Dies –

“There’s no news like bad news!”.

We’re constantly reminded that doomsday is near, and that the world has gone to the dogs. This notion that is sold to us through mass media, seems to be true with our daily lives as well – things don’t seem to be going great, at all. Everything seems to be going downhill – from bad, to worse. It seems like the end is nigh.

This overdose of negativity affects our collective consciousness like a disease. These negative emotions are one of the major reasons why humanity is slipping from bad to worse.

The fact, here, is that our lives seem miserable, due to the enormous amount of negativity around us. The truth is that things are not so bad, after all, as the world would want us to believe. I strongly believe that the world is a great place! There are a lot of great things happening around us – at least more than the media wants us to believe. There is an abundance of kindness, love, care, and happiness. New inventions are made that are improving our lives. There is a lot of effort to conserve the environment, and protect animals. Thousands of people have dedicated their lives to the upliftment of humanity. People are kind, and respectful towards each other.

Yes, the world is a wonderful place. And, this is the best time to be alive!

Understanding that fact, and accepting it yourself, are entirely different things.  If you preach Christianity to a staunch-Zoroastrian, they would call you a blasphemist (and vice versa). Likewise, However much a ‘negative’ person tries to see the world through the lens of positivity, it would be close to impossible.

That brings us to the question: How can we change this (seemingly) ‘negative’ world, and usher in positivity?

Be the change that you wish to see in the world.

This quote from M.K. Gandhi, sums up the point I’m trying to make. In order to beat the negativity around you, and within you – embrace positivity. This, pretty-much, sums-up all the self-help books, and movies, that have been made till date.

If you want to succeed in life, be positive, and stay positive! By doing so, you’re not just finding meaning, and success in life – but changing the world as well!

It’s anything but easy for a negative person to become positive, like turning on a switch. It may even seem close to impossible – but the fact is that, it is possible. As a person with a bad past, who has beaten the odds, and achieved his dreams – I can personally vouch for this!

Here are some nifty hacks that helped me beat the negativity around me, to achieve what I wanted:

1. For one, accept the people around you, and the situation around yourself – as they are. Accepting the fact prevents you from worrying about them, and that is the first goal towards eliminating negativity.
2. The next step is to start dreaming! Yes, start daydreaming! Create a set of goals that you want to achieve in life – write them down in present tense, as if you have already achieved it. Before you go to bed, close your eyes, and dream about your goals – dream about achieving them. Feel it within you!
3. Your life maybe a dreary desert storm, but you did find a few roses in this desert. Think about them, and feel happy that you had them. Thank them. Thank all the good things that happened to you!
4. Those social media posts that I was talking about earlier -feel happy for them, and share their joy! 🙂
5. If possible, add a few filters to remove all the negativity from your Social Media stream. Unfollow all those negative people. Follow the people you admire – great leaders, the people you adore. This applies to real life as well – edit your friend circle, and be in the company of people that inspire you.
6. Last, but not the least, work towards your goal. Toil hard, and while you do, be happy about the work you do, and feel that you have already reached there – even as you are on your way.

In no time… you will see that your life has changed for the good! And that the world around you has changed as well. You may not know it, but the people around you get inspired by the positivity you spread.

You are now changing the world, through the power of positivity.

The Last Ink Drop

I understand that I run the risk of being misconstrued – I’m definitely not saying for a fact that negativity is to be banished. It is impossible. Positivity, and negativity, are like ying and yang – they are complementary, and can’t exist without each other. In order to enjoy these positive emotions, you should acknowledge negative emotions as well. The point I’m trying to make is how negativity has breached this balance – even to the extent of making positivity non-existent. The only way to attain this balance is to embrace positivity. By staying positive, you become strong enough – mentally, and physically, to tackle any adversity in life, and to move forward.

Beg to disagree? Shout out your thoughts in the comment-box, please! I’d love to hear you out! 🙂