Focus on the Good Stuff

Why Be So Negative?

Television creates the impression that the world is quickly going to hell. It’s all doom and gloom, and the sky is falling. TV news stories focus on war, crime, terrorism, pestilence, layoffs, economic collapse and horrific accidents. Nothing is good. Everything is bad. Commercials remind viewers, over and over, that people are too fat, unattractive and embarrassingly incontinent. Considering all this, is it any wonder that people are incessantly negative? Unfortunately, negativity affects people in many harmful ways. They become inordinately fearful. They complain endlessly and they routinely obsess about their individual problems, stresses and challenges. They become mean and judgmental, and viciously compete with one another. They constantly gossip behind each other’s backs and must be right no matter what. They are all unhappy.

Negativity is incredibly corrosive to your well-being and sense of self-worth. It affects your outlook not only on the world and the people in it, but also toward yourself. On a personal level, negativity directly translates to harsh self-criticism, even self-loathing. People who constantly criticize themselves are their...