How Do You Stay Positive When You Feel Like Crap?

How do you stay positive when you feel so totally the opposite? This is the age-old question. I’ve found the totally unsexy truth is - discipline. Literally, you have to decide to speak, think and act the opposite of how you feel until it becomes your new truth.

It sounds simple, but it can feel like the hardest thing in the world to do. That’s why so many of us lack discipline. Discipline means doing the things you don’t feel like doing at the moment you don’t feel like it. It’s easy to go for a run, do your chores or think something happy in a moment of high energy, but many other times we don’t want to do anything and that’s when you need discipline.


We usually have more discipline for things that bring immediate consequences. For example, being late for work tends to have a more immediate consequence than thinking something negative about yourself for the 1000th time. That’s why using your willpower to think positively and choose a better perspective is one of the hardest things to do.






Especially if you are one of my brothers or sisters who have the extra difficulty of dealing with a mental illness. BUT that doesn't mean it’s impossible for you! Having depression, bipolar or any other mental, or physical challenge for that matter, doesn’t negate the importance of using your willpower to choose the better perspective.




The only times in my life that I’ve ever kept my depression at bay were the times I decided to look at the good more than the bad. The times I decided to say good things about my life and myself rather than negative and choose to shine a positive light on the negative thoughts that inevitably popped into my head.

 Don’t misunderstand. It’s not about ignoring the negative. You are too smart to fall for that. Rather it’s about acknowledging there are multiple ways of seeing things and choosing to side with the way that brings more joy and peace in your heart.

Take advice from the ridiculous Lonely Island song from the LEGO Movie. The lyrics are overly upbeat saying “everything is awesome”. Then they list awesome things that don’t seem so awesome, such as “a piece of string”, losing one's job and “allergies”. It ’s obviously a child-friendly satire, but there’s a powerful message behind it. In every situation, you can choose to find the positive side. 

Even if that positive side does mean you suffer now in order to experience future happiness. You may, as the song says “step in mud”, but hey you “got new brown shoes”! The more realistic version of that may be that you needed to buy new shoes anyway and this is just the motivation you needed to finally get off your bum and do something about it. The point is you can’t control what happens to you, but you can control how you decide to look at it, think about it, and thus feel about it. I personally struggle with this battle to stay positive nearly every day, but like a muscle, if you consistently use it, it will grow stronger and become easier over time. Don’t give up.