It would be wonderful if our lives were always beautiful and serene like a rose garden. However, life is full of difficulties, which cannot help but have some affect on our work life.
Although we are being paid to do our job, at work, there are times when it is very difficult to do when we are faced with personal problems.
Can we overcome a down attitude while at work when facing tough times in our life? There are a few antidotes that can help you get through, if you apply them. They will not change your situation, but they will make it easier to get through your workday.
1. Change your focus. When faced with troubled times, like sick children, financial issues, and personal life struggles people tend to keep their focus on their problem. The more you focus on your problems the worse they tend to seem and it becomes overwhelming.
While at work look outward, think about what you do and how it affects those you work with. Ask yourself “what can I do to make their day or their experience a better one?” When you focus outward, it has a positive affect on you and you begin to lift yourself up from the issues that are weighing you down.
2. Practice what psychologist call “reframing.” Are you an optimist or a pessimist? When a situation does not go as you planned how do you react? For example, you were planning to take your children to the park to play, but it started to rain, do you get upset and say, “The rain has ruined our play day?”
Or do you look at the situation and say “How wonderful we have rain let’s see what fun we can have making a tent in the house, or baking cookies, etc.” Reframe the negative by finding something positive to replace it. Training yourself to do this is a challenge, but you will be much happier once you can master it.
3. Make a Happy Thought List. This is a list of things that make you happy. Take the time to jot down big and little things that make you happy and bring a smile to your face. Maybe it is watching your children play, or a favorite childhood memory.
When you have thought of them, write them down or put pictures of them up around you or in a binder. When you feel down you can look at your happy thought list for a lift. When you feel lifted you will be inclined to lift others.
We have the choice on how we look at situations. By making the decision to do something positive when you are having a difficult time will not only benefit you, but may also help those with whom you work.
Grab a pen, begin your happy thought list, print copies, and keep them at home, in your car and at work. Add to it daily as new happy thoughts happen.
During times of difficulty we can make our own rose garden that will lift us up while we are trying to do our best at work..
“Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.”~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
12-21-15
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