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Our culture seems dominated by negatives. Just look at social issues like poverty, crime, climate change, etc. On a personal level, stress, heath, crime, uncertainty etc. seem to dominate our perspectives.
Several factors contribute to this malaise. The pandemic, uncertainty, stress, are certainly underlying much of the negatives. In contrast efforts like social relations, family, hugging which can mediate the negatives seem to be slow to recover from levels before the pandemic.
We also seem to focus more on the negatives. Social media gets more expansion of negative posts than positive ones. Extremists have used this and other features to rapidly expand their hate messages.
Personal psychological factors can also embellish negatives. We are quick to become defensive or attribute negative to others or external forces. We tend to ponder negatives more. When negatives happen, it is not my doing but when positives don’t happen, we try to understand the dynamics. We are quick to provide external causes and solutions but seldom examine our role or potential in solutions. Lack of confidence, gloom and doom, distrust, and anxiety are a toxic cocktail mix
Negative behavior can also easily become toxic. We can become overwhelmed with moments of despair, anxiety and discouragement We can worry too much, avoid risk, focus on negative information, be overly cautious, focus on bad news, ignore positive opportunities, be overly secretive, and use “but” as our first response etc.
The solution is simply to explore alternatives and seek out positive solutions. Practicing mindfulness and staying in the present are great ways to squash worry. You also need to understand negative warnings and reduce them. We always imagine that everything will go wrong. As a positive person, you have dreams. You have projects and visions of what your future will be like. You are on an open highway while they are stuck in a dark tunnel. Move outside your comfort zone to at least explore alternatives .
We also fail to accept the changes and consequences of our society. Over the past few decades, we have eliminated many deaths from issues like Polio, seat belts, smoking, AIDS and even crime related deaths. However, we are still exceedingly slow at resolving issues related to reforming things like climate change, vaccinations, police reform, cancer reducing poverty, and diversity.
Related: We Need More Transformative Change