Did you know that most of our daily thoughts are negative in nature? And did you know, according to WebMD (2021), that 75%-90% of visits at the doctor’s office are stress related? Such statistics make it impossible for us to ignore the huge impact our mind has on our mental and physical health. What can be done about this, especially when we think of how this can affect our young people’s mental health? Should our youth keep on letting negative emotions run the show and have that much power over them, or should they attempt to change the rules?
If they’re going to go for the second option, then it becomes imperative for them to call positive emotions to the rescue and make them their best friends and allies in their endeavor to change things. If negative emotions are powerful in hurting them and their health, positive emotions are even more powerful in protecting them and making them more resilient in every possible way.
Positive emotions are very beneficial for human beings, and those benefits can be felt almost instantly from the moment our minds shift from negative to positive thinking. Not only do positive emotions have the power to make us more creative, more efficient, more adaptable, more sociable, and more active and attentive, but they also make us significantly more resistant to physical illness while strengthening our mental health. Shifting to and welcoming positive emotions in our mind is like putting in place a whole new way of thinking and acting that has the power to transform our life entirely.
Let’s take a look at those positive emotions that have the ability to transform your young person’s life for the better.
Cultivate Love & Comfort
Love is like a superpower. It will bring you peace and serenity when there is discord. It will heal your deepest wounds and sorrows. It will dry your tears and cleanse you of all negativity. It will restore hope in your life and will give you strength when you feel at the end of your rope. It will wrap you up in an embrace of comfort and will teach you self-acceptance and self-compassion so you can be the best version of yourself. And by doing so, you will become a beacon of light and comfort to others. Love is the ultimate gift you can give yourself. It’s right there waiting for you. All you have to do is let it in.
To give love to others in a healthy manner, it is essential that you first cultivate and practice self-love. There are different ways for you to cultivate self-love that are powerful and that will bring peace, healing, strength, comfort, self-acceptance and self-compassion into your life.
Simple Ways to Cultivate it!
Let go of the idea that self-love is conditional and that you must deserve it in order to experience it.
Thinking that self-love, and receiving love from others, is conditional on what you do, what you say, what you think or what you look like can have a serious impact on your self-esteem. Self-love is and should only be seen as being unconditional.
Be gentle to your body and your mind.
Self-love requires you to cultivate the capacity to be kind to yourself. Treat your body with respect. You only have one, therefore it’s essential that you take good care of it. Make sure to feed your body with healthy foods that will make it thrive and become stronger. Exercise as often as you can. Choose a kind of workout that you enjoy and that makes you feel good. Go to the gym, go swimming, go biking or go for a walk in nature. Anything that makes your body feel good and healthy should be on your list of priorities.
Be kind to your mind by learning to be aware of your thoughts and the power they have over you.
Such awareness will allow you to recognize the inner critic inside of you that tries to pull you down and hold you back by making you feel small and afraid. One way to cultivate such awareness is to discover the practice of mindfulness and meditation. Such practice is very powerful and will teach you to recognize your thought patterns and then control and silence the inner critic within you.
Know that you are unique, there’s no one else like you in this world.
Therefore, stop comparing yourself to others. Such comparisons are skewed since there’s no one else like you in this world. Let go of the need for approval from others. Instead, embrace and love the things that make you different. They are the things that make you so special thus don’t ever let anyone make you feel or think otherwise.
Surround yourself with people who truly care about you, who love you, support you and who are kind to you.
Connect or reconnect with friends, family members and whoever will treat you with kindness and respect. Their love will empower you and will remind you of how amazing you are.
Cut all ties with any toxic relationship you may have.
This is absolutely crucial to cultivating self-love. Any one who brings you down, puts you down and makes you feel sad, unhappy, unsafe, and less than amazing does not deserve to be part of your life in any way.