“You’ve gotta… ac-centuate the positive.  E-lim-inate the negative.  Hold on to the affirmative.  And don’t mess with Mr. In Between.”

OMG!  I LOVE this song!  I still hear Bing & the Andrews Sisters knocking it out of the park with the AMAZEBALL harmonies!!! :)))

Honestly, though… it’s SO easy to get caught up in negativity…. especially in the world of… pausing for dramatic effect… FEMALE DRAMA!!!!!

Why is there so much drama?  I’m telling ya… a LOT of it goes right back to that song I quoted… We’re so busy ‘assuming’ that a particular word or action is NEGATIVE, that we can’t see beyond the blinders that hold us back from seeing TRUTH.

And what is the TRUTH?

The truth is that we have NO CLUE what the other person is going through.  We can assume until the stars grow cold, but that won’t change the fact that each person is the main character in their own story… and you have NO way of getting into their heads and figuring it all out.

Instead of trying to figure it out, the best thing you can do is to brush off the negativity that starts to seep into your mind, and focus on something positive.  

Instead of seeing that Sarah said something really hurtful, focus on something POSITIVE about her.  She’s an awesome mom.  She volunteers at her church.  She helps care for the poor.  Etc…

When you LET GO of the negative CRAP that you let slowly dig deeper and deeper into your mind and heart… when you nip it at the bud and focus instead on something POSITIVE, you’ll find that you actually BECOME someone who is positive.

Not only that… you find that you become a happier person.  You’re not so focused on what someone else is DOING TO YOU… but keeping your mind and heart filled with positivity.

Keep focusing on the GOOD in others… and before you know it, your whole life will change :)

Of course… I’m speaking from experience here!  I used to be very self-centered… self-focused… I would jump on the drama as soon as I could smell it in the air.  I would often take it personally when someone would say or do something I assumed was “negatively” pointed at me.

I would think about it and re-think about it, becoming more and more negative as the day/week went on…. and it would literally CONSUME me.

So how did I break out of this cycle?  It all started with picking up a book called “Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude.”  Instead of focusing on the negativity, I began to work at becoming a more positive person.

I took the focus off of others… focused on changing myself and just letting the negativity GO.

In all honesty… it’s not only what I knew I NEEDED to do… but it’s also what my faith REQUIRES me to do.  To LOVE and to never JUDGE.  UGH… It was a lot easier to BELIEVE it than it was to LIVE it though…

The result?  I’m HAPPIER!  YES!  I don’t worry about other people.  I try to do my very best.  When I know I fail, I apologize… forgive myself… and move on.

Can I just tell you the FREEDOM I have found by letting go of all that DRAMA????  

So instead of letting the small town, small church, female or whatever it is DRAMA, take root and build it’s negative nest inside of your heart and mind… start working at just letting it all go.  Focus on something positive instead, and you’ll slowly start to get better and better at it.

It takes practice to master this change… but the FREEDOM is worth it.

So… my challenge to you is this.  The next time you’re faced with a situation that you ASSUME is negative… actively work at letting it go.

What’s your biggest challenge with battling the negativity?  Talk to me!