Positive Thinking Changes Everything

By Diana Duke, Momivate's Secretary

As I walk in the house from picking up the kids from school, I notice piles of folded laundry just waiting for the kids to knock over. The sink is full of dirty dishes from breakfast with cereal boxes and orange juice still sitting on the island.  Five bags of groceries are sitting on the counter just waiting to be put away.  There are backpacks and shoes strewn throughout the living room.

My thoughts pull me to a commercial with a woman in a business suit singing “I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan and never let you forget that I’m a woman”.  I don’t even remember what the commercial was pushing.  I just remember thinking I want to be that woman who can do it all: work, provide, and do it looking amazing. 

But as I stare at the sight in front of me, I begin to minimize  the things that I have accomplished today and begin to over-catastrophize all the things that have not been accomplished.

This is a common thinking error referred to as Minimizing/catastrophizing and it is something that I need to correct.  One thing I can do to overcome the thinking error Minimizing/catastrophizing  is to realize when I am in the middle of this thinking error, I need to stop and redirect my thinking with positive self talk.

When I start to practice positive self-talk incredible things begin to happen. 

When I see the pile of laundry sitting on the couch waiting to be tipped over, I redirect my thoughts to recognize that I am nearly finished with this load of laundry. If I ask the kids to take their pile of clothes and put them away, we will be finished with this load of laundry! I will then have time to put another load in the washer.  While the latest load of laundry is in the spin cycle, I can make tuna sandwiches for dinner.  Sure it won’t be a roast with rosemary and garlic potatoes, but the kids will be fed... and if I add a few strawberries and carrots from the groceries still sitting on the counter waiting to be put away,  I can count two servings of the five required fruits and vegetables for the kids today. 

Positive self-talk can make the half-finished work of today seem like the work for tomorrow is nearly finished. 

    Throughout my days, I often struggle with minimizing my accomplishments and over-catastrophizing the long list of things I could do better. The list gets longer as I dwell on the things I still need to do. But as I practice Positive Self-Talk I can overcome this thinking error. 

Positive self-talk  creates a positive mindset for me and sets a tone for the people in my life to be positive about their accomplishments too. Embracing Positive Self-Talk creates a much healthier thought pattern for my life as well.  As I become more positive through self-talk, I can become more successful. And success breeds more success.  I can eventually have a healthier and more positive way of thinking.  

So tomorrow when I wake up, my work will be half  finished, and I will be able to accomplish even more!

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