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Assalamualaikum, [someone].
Ramadhan Mubarak, sister! Alhamdullillah. :) How's your tadarus class? Anytime later, you can share with me la what you got from that class, can ah? (why sound so Chinese.. i don't know, haha)
By the way, make sure you stay hydrated even though it's Ramadhan. Like what Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar said to his daughters, 2-4-2! 2 glasses of plain water during sahur, 4 glasses after you break your fast, and another 2 glasses before you go to sleep! Hehe.
Moving on to the content.
So yesterday, I messaged someone to have a great day and stay positive. However, as soon as I hit the 'send' button, I asked myself "Do we really need to stay positive? Why negativity is like not allowed at all in our lives?". Frequently, speakers actively promote positive thinking, looking from the bright side, eliminating negative thoughts, as if negative feelings are unimportant. And I think that's actually not really true.
That's the moment I realise that actually, in order to balance ourselves, it is okay to be negative sometimes.
In a study called “States of Mind Model,” University of Pittsburgh researchers Robert Schwartz and Gregory Garamoni explored positive and negative thinking as it relates to anxiety, depression, and stress. While too much negative inner dialogue can bring about depression and panic, the pair found that a “golden section”–two-thirds positive and one-third negative–is the healthiest state of mind.“Although increased positivity may be immediately reinforcing, in the long run threatening events may go unnoticed leaving the individual vulnerable to danger,” they write.
Ignoring and suppressing negative thoughts are actually not good as blocking them will not make them disappear, but they will pile up, and worse, they might burst someday. Hence, you should acknowledge your negative feelings and figure out what to do to fix it. Positive thinking is good, but that doesn't mean we should eliminate/neglect our negative thinking.
Positive people might be good at fixing things, but negative people are good at telling them what needs fixing.
As an analogy, when you see a child cries, you shouldn't immediately give a candy (Although it sounds like a good idea, but I think this action missed one step). We should ask what happened, listen to him/her, comfort him/her, and suggest any solution if there's any. Only then the child will feel better and relieved at the same time. The grief does not stay bottled anymore. Now, imagine the child as your emotion.
In the end, you are the one who can control what you feel, what you think, what you do, and what you say. Balance yourself, and keep a healthy mental lifestyle.
May Allah bless :) Jumaat Mubarak!
Love and salam,
Ai.
