Mindsets
“What you think about comes about.” Trite little nugget of faux-wisdom, stating the obvious. But like all such trite nuggets, it’s there to remind us of the obvious when we for some reason overlook it.
Standard disclaimer: This post is not aimed at you in particular, dear reader.
Everyone knows at least one negative person — someone who is always complaining, nothing seems to goes right, and their life always seems to suck. I think that this sort of person brings it on themselves. Everyone’s life sucks; everyone’s life is hard, and has difficult and sometimes seemingly-insurmountable obstacles. If you focus on the negative, then you magnify it in your own head.
That’s not to say that it’s bad to vent when something’s going wrong. I think venting is quite healthy. But there’s a difference between venting and dwelling — when you vent, you get it out and it’s gone. But if talking about it only puts it on your mind more and makes it worse… then don’t talk about it. I know I’ve fallen into that trap before, and sometimes it’s hard to realize that you’re in it.
So how do I get someone out of this if I see it? Well, the short answer is: I don’t. It’s something that they have to work through. In my opinion, the best that you can do is to help them realize they’re in a funk, and then maybe give them some inspiration and hope. But in the end, it’s up to them.
It’s rare that I get into that sort of a mindset, but the times in the past when I have, what works for me is to just get up and do something positive. I find that even if I don’t feel like going out, or hanging out with friends, if I make myself do it, then I have fun. Something to break up the norm, shake things out of the rut.
What about you — when you notice that you’re in a rut, what do you do to get out of it? This is sort of related to the question on music and mood, I suppose, but on a broader scale.