Monday 4 March 2013

How Will I Feel About This a Year From Now? Shifting Negative Emotions to Positive Emotions

Have you ever had one of those days where everything just seems to go wrong?  A day when you just want to crawl back into bed and have a do-over?  Usually these days start with something small:  stubbing your toe after you get up, spilling coffee on your shirt, realizing you're out of milk for your cereal, and about a hundred other tiny events that can happen before you even leave your home.



What usually happens is that these events put you in a bad mood.  You feel grumpy.  You're running late.  You're mad at yourself.  Negative things then start to pile up:  traffic jams everywhere, subway running late, co-workers calling in sick, making more work for you.  Your grumpy mood multiplies exponentially and you can't wait until this day is over.

But that's no way to live is it?  Counting the hours until a day is over.

One of the tricks I like to use to get me out of my bad mood, to replace negative emotions with positive ones, is to ask myself a question: "How will I feel about this a year from now?" I start to imagine myself a year later, and the spilt coffee on my shirt isn't even a distant memory.  In fact, it's so insignificant, that it's disappeared all together!  Seriously, when you do remember spilling coffee a year after the fact?

After asking myself this question, I start to feel a little silly about letting something so insignificant impact my mood.  I'm starting to let it go, and while I'm doing it, I'm replacing my negative thoughts (and emotions) with positive ones:  "Oh well, I'll just change,  no biggie" or "my toe has already started to feel better" or "guess I can just have toast, or pick something at near the office"

And now you're feeling better, and bad things will start to avoid you.  You're day is already getting better.

This little question is also very valuable for bigger stresses in  your life.  I've asked myself this question during stressful times at work, and it has always helped me keep things in perspective and therefore allowed me and my mood to brighten up.

Remember, the law of attraction brings you what you think and feel about.  So when you find yourself feeling grumpy or stressed, try asking yourself "How will I feel about this a year from now?"

Feel free to let me know if you've tried it, and how it worked for you!