It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light. ~Aristotle Onassis

We do get to choose what we focus on, although we have to notice when we are focusing on the negative before we can make a course correction.

I realized that I was entrenched in negative thinking when my BFF was checking in with me during a particularly tough time in my life and I was just texting back how yucky everything was going. Not that a bit of pissing and moaning is not called for, but I realized that I was focusing on just the negative (it’s a cognitive distortion called negative filtering) and really needed to balance out my own thinking.

I also had empathy for my dear friend who was diligently checking on me and what is must feel like to be on the receiving end of all of that negativity. I erased my last text to her and wrote back that it was a rocky couple of weeks and that I was blessed even in the tough times and then thanked her for hanging in there with me.

I jumped back into my gratitude lists (something I had been lagging on) and was thankful to her for her friendship and support and texted that instead.

If you are struggling, Hang in there! Awareness is half the battle:)