Kristin Savage

Negative emotions creep up on everybody at some point in their life, they can be caused by really anything from circumstances, people or even just things. Importantly, negative emotions are perfectly normal, in small doses. However, negative emotions that remain for long periods of time can really prevent you from living a fulfilling life. Emotions are super complex, the completely affect what we think, how we feel and ultimately how we respond to certain situations. Anger, jealousy, hatred, and sadness are all examples of negative emotions that can truly spiral out of control and restrain so many aspects of our life. When we experience these bouts of negative emotions, it can be extremely hard to cope. There are tons of self-help guides available on how to stay positive, but they subjectively don’t give clear, concise information that you can adequately utilize in real life. Here, you’ll find a list of surprisingly easy ways to make those negative emotions disappear. So, let’s dive right in. Cut it out You’ve probably seen a lot of social media posts stating that you should cut out toxicity in your life... and they’re right. The problem is, it requires self-discipline and a little bit of brutality. Of course, cutting out toxic people seems like the obvious choice -- if somebody is continually making you upset, making you feel self-conscious, downplaying your achievements or causing you a great deal of anger... you should (after confronting them) cut them out of your life. Whether this is a friend, partner or family member. It’s a hard pill to swallow, but sometimes your life is better without certain people in it. There are other ways that eliminating something from your life can help -- something which you spend every day with -- your phone. Okay, we’ll be the first to admit that phones are essential; they’ve provided us with the ability to communicate in ways that just were not possible before. But being glued to our phone every minute of the day, refreshing our phone for likes and not paying attention to the real world can have negative consequences. If you spend several hours every day on social media apps, it can be having a terrible effect on your well-being. Perhaps it is time to uninstall some of those apps on your phone and limit your screen time. If there's an emergency, people will find a way to contact you. Don’t worry. You can also reduce certain negative circumstances in your life. Though, we don’t suggest that you change anything in your life without a solid backup plan. Things like jobs or locations can be changed if they’ve creating negativity in your life. Turn it around Although it sounds cliché, there certainly are ways to turn the negativity into positivity. There really is a silver lining to every situation, even if you have to dig really deep. There’s an excellent way to start with this new attitude -- every time that you catch yourself being negative, force yourself to think of something positive. Instead of thinking about how bad something could go, think about how great it could go. Rather than thinking about everything that could have gone better, think about everything that could have gone worse. Also, there’s something that can be said when things do go desperately bad. It’s life -- things go terribly. Instead of lingering on a bad job interview, a breakup, getting laid off or bad grades... turn it around. Learn from your mistakes and make changes to better yourself. Soon you will start to see how that truly negative part of your life totally happened for a reason. Take responsibility We all do it, negativity enters our lives, and we blame everything and everyone. Obviously, external factors can really impact our lives, but sometimes we really have to take responsibility. One of the main ways to remove negativity from your life is to be at complete peace. If you keep passing the blame onto others, this just can’t be achieved. By simply taking responsibility, you can move forward and work towards changing the situation, rather than being stuck on logistics. It’s really a win-win situation. This can also help you to learn a lot about yourself -- noticing how you feel and react in individual events will help you prepare for similar events in the future, which is much better than passing the blame onto somebody else. Keep yourself busy Negativity creeps up on everybody, and there’s absolutely no judgment when the reaction is to climb into bed and watch Netflix on repeat. However, this doesn’t help the situation, in fact, it can set you back. If you really want to get rid of negative emotions, keeping yourself busy, working towards your goals can really help. The easier option is to get stuck in a rut, thinking about the negativity and allowing those negative emotions to suffocate progress. We have a few suggestions on how to keep yourself busy, but honestly, the choice is all yours. Exercise: This has also been proven to release endorphins A hobby: why not start taking classes somewhere to take your mind away from that negative something? Work: start making moves towards your career goals Keep a journal: start noting your progress, this will also give you a clear idea of where you can and can’t improve Try meditation: 5 minutes of meditation in the morning will completely change your day Creativity: Draw, write, and paint, it doesn’t matter if you’re “good” or not. Get your creative juices flowing Cooking or baking: This will fill you with so much joy and pride. Making a meal from scratch and enjoying it afterward is a fantastic feeling Read a book Spend time with people that make you happy Learn from it Negative emotions are entirely natural, how we react to them is what really matters. Every single negative emotion you feel, and whatever it is caused by should be seen as a test or a chance to learn. Okay, that job interview didn’t go well, and now you’re disappointed -- shake those negative feelings by learning from the interview and acknowledging that it wasn’t a good fit. Obviously, take time to grieve and allow yourself to feel negative emotions, just make sure they don’t control your life or any progress you’re making. Take note on how you react to the negativity in life (we all know that the world throws a lot at us). It’s a brave decision to try and fight various negative emotions. You should never feel bad for not reacting the way the world wants you to. However, dwelling on the negativity doesn’t benefit you -- and that should be the best and only reason why you need to change this.