Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words.  Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior.  Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits.  Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values.  Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.  ~ Mahatma Gandhi

For Lent this year, I decided that I would give up something that truly represented a sacrifice.  This year I decided to give up all negativity.  I wanted to emulate Jesus and what better way to represent my love for Christ than to focus on peace, love and happiness.  I must say it was the most rewarding experience of my life.

One of my favorite past times is to read and share articles via my Mara Prose Facebook page.  However, in my quest for a positive article to share for this post, I found it extremely difficult to locate one. Most of the news is about sensationalism, cancelling people for their flaws and petty celebrity drama that has nothing to do with the everyday man. The world is full of negative, grotesque news; is it any wonder that depression has become so profound in our society?  

It was disheartening to realize how much negativity is embraced and celebrated by the world. People’s misfortune is mocked in many of the comments I read under the articles. There are too many people who take joy out of someone else’s misery. After several attempts to find positivity in the media, I was forced to skip over several articles and ultimately resigned myself to not posting anything at all.  As I scrolled through random posts, I noticed a trend where people purposely take someone’s comment out of context and use it to demean or harass that individual. I used to love to read the comments attached to the articles but discovered it is just a way for bullies to voice their ignorance and argue among one another.

I decided to extend this positive quest to the company I keep. Negativity is very contagious and it is imperative to be overprotective of your thoughts while trying to maintain a positive stance in life.  This period of reflection made me truly assess my inner circle and gravitate more towards people who were more grounded, secure with themselves and simply enjoyed being good to one another.  As the days progressed, I began to look forward to seeking out the positive.  I started to change my personality and whenever I slipped, I would immediately pray to realign myself with my goal.

It is impossible to eliminate all negativity, but all it takes is simply changing your thoughts and your perspective of the situations that trigger negative emotions.  Is it not more productive to agree to disagree as opposed to arguing pointlessly about irrelevant issues?  I truly believe we all have the power to change the world. We just have to start one day at time. Let’s work towards ending the fascination with doom and gloom and redirect our mind towards encouraging, uplifting and motivating one another. I know this seems like a ‘Suzy Sunshine’ request, but what does it really hurt just to be kinder to one another?

I have decided that my date with positivity will be a lifestyle change.  It feels good and I am happier for it.  

Until next time, stay true to yourself.

Mara Prose

COMING SOON!