Q&A: How can I stop Thinking Negative Thoughts?

Q: Dear Soul Analyse,

I’ve been following your blog for a while now and although I have come to understand that negative thinking isn’t healthy, I just can’t seem to stop thinking negative thoughts. 

I have periods where I go for hours, even days sometimes, without thinking negative thoughts but then something will set me off, it might be a phone call or I see something that I don’t like and it changes everything. When I’m being positive and feeling good about myself, I’m a different person, the whole world feels better, and it surprises me that something so little can remove me from that mindset. 

Maybe it’s not possible to be positive all of the time? Or maybe I’m just someone who can’t stay positive?

Please tell me if I can stop feeling negative altogether and, if so, how?

Yours, Nancy

A: Dear Nancy,

Thank you for your question – negative thinking isn’t good for you, you’re right, but maybe what you are experiencing is repetitive thinking – are you having the same thoughts over and over again each time something triggers these negative thoughts? 

It might be that old thought patterns haven’t left you yet, which would explain why it takes so little to initiate negative thinking within you. 

To overcome repetitive thinking it is important that you become aware of your thought patterns. Become a spectator of your thoughts; instead of being engrossed in thought, watch your thoughts, understand where they stem from and look out for any that crop up regularly. Don’t try to stop yourself from thinking, or make any judgement, just silently observe. In doing so, you will become more alert of old thought habits, which don’t serve you well. 

In time, instead of becoming absorbed in your thoughts you will just simply watch them, which will bring you into a state of presence and remove any power the thoughts previously had. Eventually the thoughts will subside because you will no longer be trapped in them.  

You might like to read ‘Your Thoughts are Causing you Trauma Every Single Day,’ which explains more about the impact of negative thinking. 

If any other readers would like to ask a question click here for details.

Yours, S.A