Positivity challenge
I think the original goal of this challenge was to encourage more positive posts on Steemit. Since I've been told I need to "dial down" my “Pollyanna” positivity 😅 I’m using this challenge to focus on staying positive when specific difficulties arise.
Progress report
Last week my goal was to stay positive about the little things. From poopy diapers to messy high chairs, I’d give myself a B+ for not getting discouraged though I wasn’t overly joyful about cleaning up at times. The + is for weathering through my “final exam.”
One of the “little things” is managing our budget. (Matt helps me set it, but he’s not a detail-guy, so I keep track of the numbers). I have a spreadsheet set up where I track everything weekly. We don’t make a lot of purchases, so it’s not difficult, but the challenge of staying positive came when we found out our paycheck is going to be delayed again.
It’s been postponed a couple of weeks now and there’s nothing anyone can do about it ... but it certainly makes it challenging to keep accounting for purchases when there’s nothing coming in to offset them. Being in the red is what they call it ... perhaps they should change it to "being blue". Still, I’m trying hard not to let it get me down. So B+ for effort 😅
Others' negativity
This week I want to work on an area that’s challenged me for a long time. I tend to hone in others' emotions and then absorb them/diffuse them. It's a sort of survival technique that helped me handle highly-charged emotional situations growing up. As an adult, it's really difficult to stay positive when others are frustrated, upset or provoked. Not only do I want to "fix the problem," I get depressed when I can't.
For instance, Matt is open in expressing his emotions. If you read his post on the LRT experience, you may have caught that he wasn't happy about standing under the freezing cold AC and not having the girls' snacks readily available. Even though I was (in Pollyanna fashion) overjoyed that the LRT had AC and full of excitement for the girls' first ride, I kept tabs on Matt's frustration. Once we got to the city center, I did my best to anticipate and counter things that would be unpleasant. But a few hours later, and we were both drained.
The challenge and my gameplan
Being a mom, I feel even more the weight of keeping emotions in the house positive. But I realize that this can become oppressive. While Matt is working on not letting his negative emotions burden the rest of us, I'm also working on not trying to maintain everyone's emotions. Real life means that people feel ... they feel sad, happy, confused, angry, frightened, excited, tired, grumpy, hungry, etc.
Part of giving my kids a positive childhood means loving them through all those feelings. Helping them understand what those feelings mean and how to handle them.
Even if the people I love are experiencing negative emotions, I want to keep a positive outlook on the situation. Instead of absorbing the negativity or trying to diffuse it, I want to approach it in a positive way - with love and acceptance.
I was nominated for this challenge by @insideoutlet who posts fun and engaging content and is a founder of @asapers (a curation project to help budding Steemians).
How to play this challenge...
Write a post about something you have to be positive about today. This could be anything from being thankful for your current situation, someone being nice to you, being thankful for your friends and family, or even being thankful for the opportunity you have been given here on Steemit ... Just keep it positive!
Do this for 7 days in a row if you get nominated. (Mine won’t be consecutive, but I’ll try to reach 7 posts.)
Mention three people who should do this on each day. (Since this has been going around for quite a while, I won’t be nominating anyone but feel free to reference this post if it inspired you to write your own!)
Tag it with #7daypositivitychallenge and include these rules at the bottom of your post.
Include a picture of something positive - related to your story if possible.