How To Think Positively When The Unexpected Happens

It is a fact of life, that you will experience events in your life that were unplanned or unwanted. How you react to these events, speaks volumes about the type of person you are.

You experience an unexpected incident, you think about it, you act, and then follow further events resulting from your action. The factor governing our action is actually our thinking, and not the occurrence of the incident.

That is quite a concept to grasp. An example will probably help you to internalize this concept.

Perhaps you are camping in the woods and discover that a wild bear is running toward a young child in a neighboring campsite. Several people witness the situation.

A person with a vivid imagination, pictures to himself all of the horrors that may happen and is paralyzed by fear. Another thinks only of herself and her peril, and runs away to get out of danger.

Yet another instantly faints from fear. His fainting arises from his mental anxiety and he only adds to the confusion of the situation.

A woman was so absorbed in setting up her tent that she did not see the wild bear, so she would not have been disturbed by it, nor would have taken any related action.

Another, seeing exactly the same situation of the pending bear attack that others are experiencing, is triggered by an entirely different line of thinking. He remembers that very loud noises distract bears from their course of action. Thus, he bangs on pot lids and yells at the top of his lungs, causing the bear to take its focus off the child. With this reaction, another adult is able to snatch the child and run away to safety.

In the example described, we have an external incident of the bear attack, the thinking of each person and his or her subsequent bodily action. Each action in the illustration was connected with the same incident, yet the resulting actions were from the person’s thinking, and not the actual incident of the bear attack.

What’s the relevance between our bear attack illustration and positive thinking? Well, the example proves that it isn’t the incident you are experiencing that causes your actions; it is the thinking about the incidents that causes it.

So, when you are faced with a negative situation in your life, like the loss of your job, your resulting actions will depend on how you think about your circumstances.

If you think that losing your job means that you are worthless and unemployable, then your relating actions are going to be negative. You might sit on the couch for days watching mindless soap operas. Your actions are having a negative impact on your life and are moving you in a backward direction.

What if you choose to be positive? What would happen then? What if you focused on the positives from losing your job? If you think about the opportunity to explore a new career that has always intrigued you, then your resulting actions will be completely different. You may investigate furthering your education. You might take a trip to your local employment center to learn more about your desired field. Your actions are having a positive impact on your life and are moving you in a forward direction.

These examples illustrate that in every instance, it is not the external incident, but your own thinking that directs…controls…and decides what your course of action will be. Therefore, it is obvious then that thinking about situations and experiences positively will cause you to take a positive course of action.

Think that you can start applying this concept in your own life?

Why not start today! The next time you are faced with an adverse experience, consciously choose to think in a positive fashion. You might be surprised at how differently you will act as a result.

It can be tough to apply positive thinking everyday.

Keep in mind Norman Vincent Peale’s famous quote from the book the Power of Positive Thinking" states “Motivation is like nutrition. It must be taken daily and in healthy doses to keep it going”.