How to Be Happy and Think Positive When the World Around is Not?
I have been watching the news a lot lately to see what’s happening around the world. And it’s amazing that there are so many ways to get the news 24 hours a day, every day because there is that much stuff is happening.
Now it is rare that I will turn on the news and hear that something wonderful has happened, like world peace has spread across the earth. I literally have to do a Google search for this type of news.
Instead, it’s more like “breaking news”: blah, blah, negative, negative, blah, blah, negative, negative and more negative. Honestly, it’s very discouraging sometimes. As Winnie the Pooh would say, “Oh Bother.”
I was talking to a friend a few weeks ago and she said, “How can we be happy when others in the world are suffering?” Of course, this is a tough question to answer.
But here’s what I said, “Life is happening and the only thing that we can control is our own view of the world. We can either fall victim to the tragedies around us or be grateful that we still have a life to live.”
So in efforts to celebrate the life we do have, I’d like to shake things up a bit and offer some Rainbows and Sunshine. Because, let’s face it, the world could use some positivity and balance right now. So here is a short exercise below to do just that.
The Weather Exercise: Positive Thinking
“You are the sky. Everything else – it’s just the weather.” – Pema Chödrön
Imagine that you could turn on the news and hear that only good things are happening in the world. Suppose that we could all celebrate each other’s good fortune and be at peace with people of any color, gender, cultural background, class, size, shape, sexuality… or anything that was different from what we know.
Just for one moment, imagine that life is the weather and we are the sky. And the weather is rainbows and sunshine with the light breeze and just the right temperature. Or maybe it is cold and you are in front of a fireplace drinking hot cocoa or tea giggling at a joke, surrounded by the people you love.
Stay in this moment, surrendering all your worries, anxieties, fears, and concerns because you get to decide what the weather is and it is just exactly how you want it.
Final thoughts
I hope that this exercise brings you peace inside and offers you hope that there is still so much to live for even when the world around is stormy and full of thunder.
All sorts of weather are happening in our “external sky” and we have very limited control of this. Yet, we are not powerless. We can control the weather inside our minds as Pema Chödrön says in her quote above. When the winds are fierce outside, we can always come inside ourselves and bring up the rainbows and sunshine or drink some cocoa near the fire.
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