Ray's Daily

Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.

Willie Nelson

 

 

 

I am enjoying my drop out week. I am not listening to the naysayers, opening hate mail, or being in places where arguments drown out reasoned discussion. Of course I know it is only one week and then I’ll again be in the mainstream. But this week again reminds me how important it is not to let negativism get to me. I have a friend whose career as a motivational speaker and life coach allows him to focus in on stamping out negativism. In fact many years ago he gave me a mug that had in its design the word negativism in a circle with a diagonal line through, it is one of my favorites and is a constant reminder to stay positive.

Some time ago I saved an article by Hale Dwoskin, author of the New York Times best seller "The Sedona Method," in which he suggests how we can avoid ever letting another negative person bring them down in our job, relationships or any aspect of life. Here is what he had to say:

 

An excellent resolution people can make — one that will serve them well emotionally for their entire life — is to not let others bring them down.

The negative person type is often characterized as those who complain about anything and everything, and have a knack for telling people exactly what’s wrong with them and their life.

People who exude negative energy such as this can be a major risk for other people’s well-being. If people are not careful, the negative individual’s pessimism may begin to rub off on them, or make them doubt their instincts or path in life.

At the most basic level, people can stop a negative person from bringing them down simply by not being around them. As soon as they start droning on about the bad things in life, they can just leave. Of course, this isn’t always an option, particularly if the negative person is someone they work with, live with or must see often. So a backup plan is necessary — one that will work every time, no matter what.

Positive people should make it a point to stay positive, and it is their right to stay that way. If someone begins to bring a person down, here’s how to circumvent it:

Step away from their negativity. One way to do this is to imagine taking a pair of scissors and cutting the cord linked to the negative person. Using this visualization technique, someone’s negative thoughts cannot interfere with another person’s positive ones.

People can also find something to love about the negative individual. Nothing squelches negativity faster than love, so they should find something positive about the individual, even in the midst of that individual’s complaining. When a person shares that positive something with the negative person, they may even see that negative person’s frown turned upside down.

Another tactic people can do is to make themselves open and transparent.

"Allow yourself to feel and be as transparent and as open as possible," says Hale Dwoskin, CEO and director of training of Sedona Training Associates. "What this means is if you are trying to protect yourself or prevent others from pulling you down, you are much more likely to be pulled down." "However, if you allow yourself to simply open and welcome whatever feelings are brought up while you are around others, you become more transparent and therefore create less ways for people to hook into you and pull you down," he continues. People need to remember that they can be positive no matter what.

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“Fear less, hope more; Eat less, chew more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Love more, and all good things will be yours”

Swedish Proverb

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A man ninety years old was asked to what he attributed his longevity. I reckon, he said, with a twinkle in his eye, it because most nights I went to bed and slept when I should have sat up and worried.

Dorothea Kent

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A man called the undertaker one afternoon and sobbed, "This is Mr. Magillicutty. I need you to bury my wife."

"Mr. Magillicutty? Sidney Magillicutty?"

"Yes, that’s right."

"Didn’t I bury your wife 10 years ago?" the undertaker asked.

"I got married again," the man sobbed.

"Oh," replied the undertaker. "Congratulations."

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"Out of My Mind — Will Be Back Shortly"

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Here are some actual comments made by NYC Teachers on student’s report cards. These comments were made as part of their final narratives.

All the Teachers were reprimanded, but they said it was worth it!

1. "Since my last report, your child has hit rock bottom and has started to dig."

2. "I would not allow your student to breed."

3. "Your child has delusions of adequacy."

4. "Your child is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot."

5. "Your son sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to achieve them."

6. "The student has a "full six pack" but lacks the plastic thing to hold it all together."

7. "This child has been working with glue too much."

8. "When your daughter’s IQ reaches 50, she should sell."

9. "The gates are down, the lights are flashing, but the train is not coming."

10. "If this student were any more stupid, he’d have to be watered twice a week."

11. "It’s impossible to believe the sperm that created this child beat out 1,000,000 others."

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"Growing Old Is Mandatory — Growing Up Is Optional"

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The little boy greeted his grandmother with a hug and said, "I’m so happy to see you, Grandma. Now maybe Daddy will do the trick he has been promising us."

The grandmother was curious. "What trick is that, dear?" she asked.

The little boy replied, "I heard Daddy tell Mommy that he would climb the walls if you came to visit us again!"

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"It is better to ask some of the questions than to know all the answers."

James Thurber

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An elderly man was driving down the freeway, and the car phone rings. Answering, he found it was his son’s voice urgently warning, "I just heard on the news that there’s a car going the wrong way on I-285.  Please! Be careful!"

"Hey!" said the senior citizen, "It’s not just one car. It’s hundreds of them!"

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The school of agriculture’s dean of admissions was interviewing a prospective student, "Why have you chosen this career?" he asked.

"I dream of making a million dollars in farming, like my father," the student replied.

"Your father made a million dollars in farming?" echoed the dean much impressed.

"No," replied the applicant. "But he always dreamed of it."

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"Statistics Means Never Having to Say you’re Certain"

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Barbara said, I returned to my parents’ home to attend a funeral. At the funeral my mother led me to a man who looked vaguely familiar.  "Barbara, remember Rabbi Green?" she asked as she left me in his company.

I frantically tried to place him, and suddenly it came to me. He must be the kind man who, five years earlier, had officiated at my grandmother’s funeral. "It’s good to see you again, Rabbi," I said. "Though I wish it weren’t always under such tragic circumstances.  "The rabbi looked perplexed but uttered some words of consolation before he was called away. A few minutes later, I rejoined my mother.

"Imagine," she whispered, "after all this time, to run into the rabbi who performed your wedding!"

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“Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.”

Mahatma Gandhi

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Stay well, do good work, and have fun.