It’s very important to remember our mood affects others. If you feel negative and have negative thoughts, three important things happen:
- You are more likely to continue to feel and think negatively unless you do something to change it,
- It is hard to change it because figuring out a different way to do things is much more difficult when you feel bad, and
- Other people (who may be able to help) tend to avoid you because they don’t like being around negative people.
If we are feeling negative, it is likely others will sense that negative feeling and keep their distance, unless they are very a helpful (and rare) type of person. Most people don’t like to be around negative people because it makes them feel down too.
How do other people know we are feeling negative? Micro-expressions. While people can’t and probably shouldn’t stop the occasional negative (or protective) thought, negativity can become a habit that is unhelpful in changing one’s situation. Negative thoughts can combine and join with other negative thoughts until a person feels quite hopeless. Once someone feels hopeless, it is very hard to make changes in their lives and they are unlikely to find people who will help them, because others sense that negativity and want to steer clear.
It is true that thinking and feeling negative is more likely to lead to more negative thoughts and feelings. And while feeling negative, people don’t tend to think creatively and don’t feel empowered to make changes. Also, people who may be able to help tend to avoid negative people, so negative thoughts lead to a place where the person is unlikely to think of a solution to their problem, feels less able to make changes and pushes away people who might be able to help.
How can someone get out of the “negative thought leads to negative mood leads to more negative thoughts” cycle? Here’s how Next >
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