Becoming Happy

                 Sometimes, when people think in a negative way long enough, they become not as happy as they could be.  In this article, I will discuss simple things we can do to become happier in our lives.
            First, evaluate your life and ask yourself if you are a negative person.  When I say negative person, I’m referring to talking badly about yourself or putting yourself down or using negative self-talk.  For example, if I were to say, “I hate my job” or “I hate my life” that’s very negative, and it will bring down most people over time because it’s negative self-talk.  Even saying, “I can’t find a partner” or “no one will date me” is very negative, and it’s a form of putting yourself down.
            Sometimes, this first step is the hardest for people. We don’t think of ourselves as being negative, but in reality, we are.  We all must take a hard look and think about this and be honest with ourselves.  I fully admit that, sometimes, I catch myself being negative. When I catch myself doing this, I change my thinking because I know being positive will make me feel better about myself and just better in general.
            For example, when I used to put myself down a lot of the time, I would feel very bad about myself.  For example, I could not do anything right because I could not finish school or I could not find a partner in life.  This was negative thinking or negative self-talk, and I started to believe what I was saying to myself.  The fastest way to change one’s thinking is to say, “I no longer need those thoughts.” 
            Changing our negative thinking to positive thinking is a quick way to change our thinking and get ourselves to feel better about ourselves.  If I say, “I can’t find someone to date,” which is negative, I would change this to, “Yes, I have a great new relationship and we love each other very much.”  Or “I can’t find a job I really love” into “Yes, I have a great job that I love, and I get paid a great wage.”
            Can you see how changing our negative sayings into positive sayings can help change our lives?  If you change your negative thinking into positive thinking, your whole life will change.  It will not change overnight.  Sometimes, we want instant results, but I tell people, if you have been thinking in a negative way for months or years, it might take a few months to start thinking and feeling good about yourself.  Look for small changes, and behind small changes will come big changes.  Just don’t give up before you start to see a change.
            From my experience, when I was thinking negatively, it took me about 90 days or a bit longer to start feeling a difference when I started thinking positively.  But now, when I find myself thinking in a negative way, I can change my feelings very quickly into positive feelings because I’ve been thinking and being positive for so long.  With anything, it takes time to change the way we are thinking and our self-talk.  The important thing is we don’t give up, and we keep moving forward.
            It’s normal to feel like nothing is changing when you start.  This is the first test for you; if you keep thinking in a more positive way, you will get positive results.  If you just give up, you will go back to thinking in a negative way, and you won’t change your life.  You must be willing to let go of all your fears and just say, “I’m doing this, and I know it won’t be easy, but I’m doing this.”  Even if you don’t see any results for a few months, it’s no reason to give up. It just means that you have been thinking in a negative way for so long that it will take you longer to change your thinking to become more positive.
            Remember, you can do anything in this world if you think you can.  Changing your negative thinking to positive thinking will get you positive results.  Your whole life will begin to change by just changing your thoughts. 

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