Staying Positive During These Uncertain Times

Safe to say, the past few months have been a rollercoaster of emotions. It hasn’t been easy to stay positive the entire time but lucky for us, one of our followers – Faalik Zahra – has a few tips to help us stay on the right track. Scroll down to read her advice on finding positivity during these uncertain times:

Quarantine has been a rollercoaster ride for everyone all over the world. It has forced us all to change; change our day to day life, our relationships, and perhaps most importantly, address those inner demons that we’ve otherwise distracted ourselves from. It has also compelled many of us to say some early goodbyes, endure life-changing moments, and deal with a collective, inescapable negativity. The negativity comes from the various catastrophes individuals all across the globe have been facing over the past couple of months. It is easy to become encapsulated by the negativity around us. Yet we have in us the ability to still find a way to focus on the good. A few minor changes in your daily routine can allow you to find positivity even in these tumultuous times:

Prioritise Self-Contentment

The first step to take when trying to remain positive, is to prioritise self-contentment. Confidence in yourself is what allows you to perform to your full potential. But when placed in a foreign situation, it is instinctual to doubt yourself and your capabilities. With all external factors out of your control, all you can control is yourself. So when you start doubting yourself, you increase your guilt and limit your performance. This can all be avoided by finding ways to believe in yourself again. When you are content with who you are, these moments of self-doubt decrease. One way to bolster self-confidence is by constantly reminding yourself of the good qualities that you possess while also accepting the bad ones. Doing so will help you feel proud of who you are, and also be at peace with the realisation that not everything will go your way. During unexpected moments in your life, it is important that you trust yourself, and know that you really are just doing your best. Practicing such positive self-talk has been scientifically proven to increase your sense of self and help you deal with external instability.

Reflect Before You React

Everyone has to endure bad times, though they may vary in severity. How you respond to such adversity is what defines it as either a positive or negative aspect of your life. It’s important to reflect on what is happening around you, instead of merely succumbing to your initial reaction. Not only does this give you time to think rationally but also allows you to understand what is truly happening in order to gain total control of it. Developing such habits will lead to a reduction of emotion-based decisions during chaotic times, and promote self growth. All feelings are valid, so rational decision making does not entail disregarding your emotions, or feeling guilty about them – the point is rather to manage negative emotions from controlling you.

Appreciate What You Do Have

Practicing ​gratitude is another key component of happiness. When you are not able to appreciate what you have, you will never be able to feel truly content. It’s easy to get caught up in a downward spiral when you are being overly critical of yourself or what you have. Such internal negativity ultimately leads you to succumb to the negativity around you. If instead you choose to focus on the small things that make your day better- you will feel automatically happier. This is because you are exercising your brain to think positively about what you have rather than despairing over what you don’t. An exercise that can help achieve this is writing down, or just thinking about three things that you are grateful for before you go to sleep every night. This will leave you sleeping with a positive mind that will eventually help lift you up out of the negativity which may otherwise surround you.

Value The Small Things

It’s cliche, but it works. The little moments that go under appreciated, lost in the chaos of our day to day lives, are usually the most precious. During the initial quarantine days, all I was doing was watching netflix and scrolling through my phone. I was in a house filled with my family, but my interactions with them were minimum. I started to miss the way it used to be before and I realised that it wasn’t the activities that I missed, but the small moments that would exist between all our hectic schedules. These moments were still present, but I had been so busy in my own world that I hadn’t been acknowledging them. The smile that makes me hug my dad, annoying my siblings, the joy of seeing my mom cook and jokingly pitching her to tease her – these little moments are what make life joyful, but they can only be appreciated if one starts to notice the value of them. 

Self-isolation allowed me to understand the value and impact of every moment. I realised that It is up to us to determine how we want to perceive a life event, and decide its implications. If we all worked on ourselves to see the world from a positive lens, we could drastically improve the enjoyability of both our own lives and of those around us. So look up from your laptop, phone, or tablet, and take in all of the beautiful things that surround you, allowing them to leave a positive imprint on your mind.