Negative Thinking Patterns
and Wellness

Truth be told, our brains are wired to watch for danger. Part of the subconscious mind is attuned to the negative to keep us safe. This is very helpful when not overdone. It alerts you to potential danger and to those who would take advantage of you mentally and emotionally. Trust those instincts.

The problem is that since most of us are in little real danger on a daily basis, this part of our brain tends to create mountains out of molehills. Negative thoughts consume us about relatively minor things. Too much stress from chronic negativity compromises health.

Negative Thinking Patterns

A young child's brain often functions at the theta wave level which makes it easy for programming from authority figures to take place. They download 'facts' about who you are, others and life. This information, or misinformation, forms the basis of your thinking.

A traumatic experience can cause an instant and lasting imprint at any age.

All these downloads and imprints stay with you and influence you throughout life unless you reprogram the subconscious mind.

Sometimes your thoughts get stuck in negative thinking patterns that seem impossible to shut off. They keep you awake at night,or cause you to make decisions that limit rather than expand and empower you. You focus on the pains instead of the pleasures of life. You look at a circumstance, individual, or life in general through a dark filter instead of rosy colored sunglasses.

Worse yet, as you continue to stay in this negative or hyper-vigilant state, your body is in a constant state of health-damaging mental and physical distress.

Law of attraction fans may worry even more because they understand that "as a man thinks, so he is". What you focus your energy on is what you attract more of, especially when thoughts are paired with emotion. So if you are engrossed in a habitual negative thought pattern fueled by accompanying negative emotion, you find yourself in a vicious mental/emotional cycle.

Brain science bears this process out. The brain creates neural pathways according to your thoughts. These pathways are strengthened and can even double in the span of an hour if you keep repeating it.

Now get this - in order to have enough building blocks for this pathway, it will disassemble one that is not in use. So if you focus on anger day after day, you may notice your ability to have loving thoughts diminishing. And it really is.

Identify Your Negative Thinking Patterns

A good way to figure this out is to ask how that thought feels. Does it make you feel more positive, energized, lighter? Or do you feel lower and heavier, like the life or joy is being sucked out of you?

Here are some common patterns. You may find that you project these onto yourself or others.

You focus on the negative in reality or possibility.

No matter how many good things happened or may happen, you discount the positive and rehash or worry about possible bad things.

One of my very damaging habits was rehashing 'stupid' comments I made in a seemingly endless cycle of self-torture that could go on for weeks. It did not matter that no one else thought anything of it or if everything else I said was brilliant.

You generalize instead of looking at each situation or circumstance accurately.

Something 'always' goes wrong or good things 'never' happen for you. This is rarely the truth.

You project negative feelings into the future.

This negative thinking pattern is a natural follow through of the generalization pattern.

Perhaps you say, "I'm a failure and will always be a failure."

These false generalizations are a sure way to rob yourself of hope and happiness. The future is a clean slate and an open book. You get to choose what is written in it.

You make the problem about you.

You take responsibility for how someone else feels or for things that go wrong that really have little or nothing to do with you.

When your moody partner goes through periods of not talking do you ask, "I wonder if she's mad at me? What did I do?"

You believe you don't deserve good things.

You may believe you are not worth it and that you are no good. Good things happen to other people, not you. You may believe you are ill because you were 'bad' and are being punished.

She/I/You should,ought to, must, better, need to...

Why is this negative? It sets up expectations that may be unrealistic or undesirable. These negative thoughts are controlling and inflexible. They close the door to expansion and possibilities. Do you really have to (fill in the blank)or are there other possibilities?

You believe your negative thoughts and/or confuse a negative emotion as a fact.

Two popular sayings are "Don't believe everything you think" and "There are three sides to every story, yours, mine and the truth."

Just because you feel, think, or believe something does not make it so. Remember that article about all those beautiful models who felt fat or ugly because one of their features imperfect?

You blame everyone or anyone else for your problems.

It is always someone else's fault that something 'bad' happened to you. You accept no responsibility for your health or life circumstances.

Sidestepping the arguments of group co-creation and karma, sometimes bad things do happen that you have no direct control over. A great worker loses his job because of downsizing. A girl gets kidnapped on her way home from school.

But if you are honest with yourself, you have to acknowledge that you have, at least in part, contributed to some of what you blame others for.

It is easy to get discouraged when noticing how many negative thinking patterns you have. The point is not to not spiral further downward. Negative thinking has several positive aspects.

Awareness of your negative thoughts and stinking thinking habits is an important step to developing a positive mental attitude and feel better about yourself and others.

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