With all the chaos, craziness, and uncertainty going on in the world, it can be hard to focus on the good. Every time you look at the news, something awful seems to be happening. And that’s just the local news. Take a look at what’s going on in the world and it gets even more frightening. At times focusing on the good can feel really challenging.
Despite all that, it’s important to remember that there is a LOT of good in the world. There are a lot of people helping others, and trying to make things better.
It’s important that we focus on the good.
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Let’s dive into 12 ways to focus on the good in life.
Look for the good
On social media, do you have your favorite feel-good people or pages that you like to follow or will you read anything that shows up in your feed without giving it too much thought?
When you are browsing the Internet do you have your favorite blogs and websites that fill you with joy, happiness, and curiosity?
When you are dealing with people, do you focus on their good qualities or are you consumed by their bad traits and negative aspects?
If you want to focus on the good in life, you need to look for the good.
Be passionate about looking for the good. More importantly, do this consistently. Looking for the good every now and then won’t be as effective, you need to consistently be seeking out the good.
Related posts to help you find the good, despite what’s going on –
– Giving Thanks for Good News – Even When Other Things Aren’t Going Well
– 20 Questions to Reflect on Your Joy and Happiness for the Year
– 20 Hope Quotes to Give You Hope During Difficult Times
Find the good
It’s not enough to simply look for the good. You have to be in the right mindset to see the good.
It’s about giving yourself permission to find the good stuff.
When we are in the wrong mindset, we can look and look and look but not see the good that is right under our noses. If we are looking for something, but not willing to find it, we may not see it at all.
This can sometimes happen when we are sick, fatigued, or struggling with life.
Earlier this year I was diagnosed with a chronic illness and my whole life was turned upside down. I was struggling with a lot of big life changes as well as feeling sick and unwell.
One of the many changes I had to make to my life was what I was eating. Instantly, I was on a gluten-free, dairy-free diet.
At first, all I could think about were my favorite foods that I could no longer eat. I was obsessed with what I was no longer allowed to eat and enjoy.
After speaking to a counselor (we had lots of other stuff to discuss at the time), she said something that stuck with me. She advised me to focus on the foods that I loved that I could eat.
In other words, focus on the good.
This reignited my love for sorbet (mango and raspberry flavors are the absolute best!), and forced me to seek out other GF DF treats that I could enjoy.
When we do feel overwhelmed, or feel like we are drowning in the bad then it’s time to reach out for help. Talking to a counselor or trained medical professional can help. This doesn’t have to involve years of intense therapy (though that will help some people).
When you need help seek it out. Depending on what country you live in, you are likely to have a hotline service that helps with over-the-phone counseling. If you are struggling with all the doom and gloom, get some help.
Don’t drown in the bad
This isn’t about being ignorant and not knowing what’s going on in the world.
What it is about is not constantly looking for the bad and allowing yourself to drown in it.
Your consumption needs to be intentional and not merely something you do on autopilot.
For instance, how often do you check the news feeds each day? Are you checking news feeds constantly or simply once a day to keep up to date?
Do you find yourself clicking on the articles focusing on the latest ‘shocking’ story? Here’s a tip, if the website you are reading features celebrity and lifestyle stories and has words like ‘disgusting’, ‘shocking’, ‘disturbing’, or something similar in quotation marks in the title, it’s probably not at all what you think the story is going to be about. The disgusting thing will often be someone’s opinion of someone else and it could be as trivial as how they made their child’s lunch or a dress a celebrity wore!
Headlines like this can put people on alert for absolutely no reason.
Editing what you consume is even more important if like myself you are an HSP (highly sensitive person). For an HSP like myself, certain images can’t be unseen, they stay with me for a long time, so I have learned to avoid certain stories and images that I know will upset me.
Here’s a question for you.
How often are you doom-scrolling?
The way to eliminate the act of doom-scrolling is by being intentional about the content you consume. It’s about being mindful, intentional, and organized.
So what do I mean by organized? This means that you have a selection of pre-book marked, pre-favorited feel-good websites, pages, and apps. These are your go-to sources for information, entertainment, and even news (if you can manage to find one that doesn’t run with the if it bleeds it leads formula that has been around forever).
If doom-scrolling has become a habit for you, then it’s time to take action.
An excellent book on habits (which I have read myself) is Atomic Habits by James Clear. There is a reason this book has 5 stars, has been on Amazon’s best-selling list for what seems like forever, and has over 98K reviews.
If you want to change your habit of doom-scrolling and improve your life, this is where to start!
Share the good
People are all too quick to share bad news (especially if it’s gossip related).
Some people like to be the ones sharing the drama. Sharing other people’s misery and mishaps, makes them feel important (and perhaps even superior?)
Some people thrive on telling stories of struggle and loss. They like telling stories of, what they consider, bad people doing bad things.
Instead, let’s share the good news. Let’s share the kind and caring news. Let’s share the funny stuff (that doesn’t put down other people).
Let’s share the news of people helping others and doing great things for this planet and each other.
Related post – 10 Ways Social Media Can Affect Your Emotions and Influence Your Mood
Be an encourager
There are definitely enough critics and naysayers out there. What we need are more encouragers. What we need are more cheerleaders who empower people instead of criticizing them and dragging them down.
More than ever we need to be supportive of each other. We need to believe in each other people’s ability to change, grow and evolve.
Let’s be the encouragers and the cheerleaders. The ones who fill people with hope, inspiration, and joy.
Be an encourager. Help other people to seek out and reach their potential.
Hang around people who see the good
If you hang around constantly negative people and people who criticize everyone and everything, there is a good chance you will struggle to focus on the good. There is a good chance you will turn into a negative person, like the ones you are surrounding yourself with.
Negative people bring a negative attitude. Constantly complaining and critical people don’t spark joy or curiosity.
Being with encouragers and people who empower us makes a huge difference in our lives. Gravitate towards those people (and perhaps even more importantly) work towards being one of those people yourself.
Be positive but realistic
I’m not going to tell you to always be positive. I think that whole always be positive mantra is a bit of a crock.
When something difficult or tragic happens in our lives (like losing someone we love or being diagnosed with a serious illness) it’s understandable to be upset and sad. It’s normal to grieve and feel sad when we lose someone or something that is a huge part of our lives.
Our emotions are meant to be processed not suppressed.
Focusing on the good doesn’t mean ignoring our problems or being in denial of them. It doesn’t mean pushing down our emotions and trying not to feel them.
Pretending our problems don’t exist doesn’t help us (or anyone else for that matter). This means facing our problems head-on and working through them one step at a time. It can be hard work but the ability to work through our problems gives us the confidence and resilience to keep pushing forward.
Related posts –
- 20 Questions to Reflect on your Challenges for the Year
- 45 Inspiring Feeling Low Quotes to Give You Strength When Feeling Down
- How to Stop Lying to Yourself About Your Feelings and Actions
Practice gratitude
Gratitude helps us focus on the good. It helps us appreciate what we already have instead of worrying about all the things we don’t have.
Being grateful helps us appreciate the little things that we often overlook.
Even when our lives are hard and we are struggling with our situation, gratitude can help us see the good, even if those things seem small in the grand scheme of things. Sometimes it is the little things that help us work through our struggles.
A gratitude journal can help with getting your gratitude on. Below are some popular choices –
- Good Days Start with Gratitude: A 52 Week Guide to Cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude by Pretty Simple Press
- The One Minute Gratitude Journal by Brenda Nathan
- Burn After Writing by Sharon Jones. (This one isn’t a gratitude journal but it is one of my favorite guided journals for self-discovery. I bought one for my niece and loved it so much I bought another one for myself. This journal will really get you thinking!)
Focus on the now
An important part of focusing on the good is focusing on the now.
We often struggle when we are wallowing in the past or worrying about the future. The moment we need to concentrate on is right now.
Being mindful and in the present stops us from time traveling, which helps us be happier, healthier humans. 🙂
Below are books and journals to help you be more mindful.
- The Mindful Kind – by Rachael Kable. Rachel also has a successful podcast on mindfulness which you can enjoy here.
- Practicing Mindfulness: 75 Essential Meditations to Reduce Stress, Improve Mental Health, and Find Peace in the Everyday by Matthew Sockolov
- Let That Sh*t Go: A Journal for Leaving Your Bullsh*t Behind and Creating a Happy Life – Monica Sweeney
- Zen as F*ck: A Journal for Practicing the Mindful Art of Not Giving a Sh*t by Monique Sweeney (clearly don’t buy the two journals above if you aren’t okay with a bit of cussing!)
See the good in others (and yourself)
All too often it can be easy to label people and write them off because we only see them in one way or as one type of person. When we go looking for the bad, we usually find it because let’s face it, we all have our flaws.
When we are hyper-focused on flaws, we can fail to see the good in others.
This, by the way, includes seeing the good in yourself. If you are supercritical of yourself, you may see only your so-called flaws, weaknesses, and failures. But you are a lot more than that.
See the good in others and in yourself.
Related post – 12 Things to Remember When You Think You Are Not Good Enough
Be the good
If you want to focus on the good, the best way is by being the good that you want to see in the world.
So what do I mean by being the good? It means treating people with respect and dignity.
Compassion, empathy, and kindness, all help us be better people and help us be the good in life.
How can you start to do this? Here is one easy step.
The next time you see a comment on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or anywhere on the Internet that you don’t agree with, hesitate for a moment and stop yourself from typing. Stop yourself from writing a mean, nasty or unkind comment. Instead, be kind. Be compassionate. Remember that there is a person on the other end of that Internet connection that you will hurt with your unkind words. Keep your unkind comments and judgments to yourself and get on with your day.
There are far too many people saying awful things to each other. If this was to stop, there would be more good in the world.
Focus on the good
Focus on the good around you. Seek out opportunities and adventures. Laugh, have fun, and spend quality time with the people in your life. Help others where you can. Focus on being kind and compassionate to others, yourself, and this beautiful and amazing planet of ours every day.
Focus on the good, be the good, and you will start to see a lot more good in the world.
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