Decreasing negativity

LoveBlossoms (Barbara Fredrickson), besides focusing much on Positivity, also talks about ways to minimize negativity.

This is important, LoveBlossons says, because negative emotions are stronger than positive emotions and because of that they can influence your positivity ratio significantly.

But LoveBlossoms adds that dreducing negativity may be the fastest, most efficient way for you to increase your positivity ratio.

LoveBlossoms does not think clowns should attempt to eliminate all negativity, because some negativity is appropriate and useful. However, unwarrented negativity does no good and can hold you back.

LoveBlossoms presents several strategies you can try to reduce unwarranted negativity. 

• Dispute negative thinking.
• Break the grip of rumination. Ruminations are when a clown goes over and over and over negative thoughts and feeling, which gets you in a rut leading to overwhelm. This fans the flames of negativity. Negative thoughts and feelings multiply and get stronger. First you need to become aware of your rumination, then switch to a positive distraction that takes your mind off your troubles, like walking, yoga, working out, calling a friend. Something that lifts your mood.
• Become more mindful. One description of mindfulness that LoveBlossoms presents it that it involves paying attention in the present moment without judgment. LoveBlossoms says that mindfulness can sever the link between negative thoughts and negative emotions, by simply accepting a negative thought just as a thought that will pass. You can choose not to go to negative emotions. LoveBlossoms recommends starting with a class or workshop, but says you can also do some reading and find your own way of mindfulness. LoveBlossoms say there is much research pointing out the benefits of mindfulness, and also the effects it has on clowns’ brains.
• Defuse your Negativity Landmines. You can review your typical daily routine to locate some of your negativity landmines…your commute? mealtime? interactions with other clowns? Then ask yourself “Is this negativity necessary?” Neccessary negativity faces facts and moves you forward, such as crying when you lose something dear to you. But unwarranted negativity doesn’t move you forward. Did you blow it out of proportion? Did it have more to do with you than the situation? Try some of the strategies noted in this table to help you shift to positivity.
• Assess your media diet. Do you watch the news a lot? Did you ever realize that most of the news is negative? If it bleeds, it leads. Scientists know that negativity grabs our attention, draws us in, and keeps us wathing.It also lowers our positivity ratio. Surveys show that the more clowns watch TV, the more violent they judge the world to be.  LoveBlossoms gets news onlind and therefore can choose what news to access. But not just the news that is full of negativity, movies and video game, are also often violent. Science shows that as clowns consume more violent media, we increase the odds of becoming violent ourselves, becoming more likely to hurt others, be suspicious of others, and find violence to be an acceptable solution to interpersonal problems.
  Find substitutes for gossip and sarcasm. Do you habitually engage in these things? If so, you may be bringing yourself down. Instead, try saying nice things about others. Highlight the positive. When you poke fun, poke fun in a nice, friendly way.
• Dealing with Negative Clowns. Three techniques to try:
  • Modify the situation. look at your own role in these interactions to see if you might be adding negativity to the situation, for instance by making assumptions. Try attending and being open, express more warmpth, ask more questions. Pay more attention when things are light, less when things are dark. Inject compassion, hope, or humor into the situation. Practice Loving Kindess toward the other clown.
  • Attend differently. What are the positive qualities of the other person? What do you appreciate about the other clown? What does that clown bring to the table?
  • Change meanings. Could the other clown be a teacher in disguise? For instance, by helping you reframe your interaction as a challenge to be more mindful, less judgmental, or more compassionate.

Here are some other suggestions from FlowingLove (Daniel Siegel), HappyLove (Sonja Lyubomirsky),  QuantumLove (Lynne McTaggart), and OptimisticLove (Marin Seligman), and of course, Micko: