What strategies do you use to cope with negative feelings?
Each day I try and write three things. Simple things I’m grateful for.
Not wondrous things, but little ones.
Traffic lights staying on green, getting to an appointment on time, a phone call from a relative, an unexpected laugh with a friend. Maybe seeing the first tadpole or daffodil of the year.
Just list 3 things, with today’s date, maybe add a little sketch of what’s happened. Each positive gratitude trains your brain to feel less negative. I’ve dome it for a couple of years now. It helps X
I’ve just watched a drama documentary on TV that explains how important blood donations are. They are used for blood transfusions, and only certain blood types can be transfered between donor and recipient. I decided to look up more information. See below.
From Google :
“The eight most common blood types are A+, A-, B+, B-, O+, O-, AB+, and AB-. These types are determined by the presence or absence of the Rh factor protein and the A and B antigens:
Rh factor: If the Rh factor protein is present, the blood type is RhD positive (+), and if it’s absent, the blood type is RhD negative (-).
A and B antigens: These antigens determine whether the blood type is A or B.
There are also many other blood group systems, including the Duffy, K antigen (Kell), Lutheran, and Kidd blood groups. The International Society for Blood Transfusion has identified 42 blood-group systems in addition to the ABO and Rh systems.
When matching blood types for a transfusion, it’s important to consider not only the A, B, and Rh antigens, but also minor antigens that aren’t routinely detected during blood typing. A process called cross-matching can help detect these minor antigens. “
Can you share a positive example of where you’ve felt loved?
I have felt nothing but positive support since my hubby died. I just want to say how much I love everyone who has helped me. I want to thank them all for that support that has been and still is getting me through things.
There is so much they have done, checking up on me,making me realise I’m not alone. I have been there when I was ill, given me time when I was sad and miserable. Things will never be the same, but I realise how much my friends mean to me and meant to my hubby.
I feel rough so I did another covid test. It’s positive again. I managed to avoid it for all the years it’s been around. I think I’ve just been unlucky and seen too many people recently. I really feel bad incase I’ve passed it on to others. According to the government you don’t have to self isolate any more, but why would I not protect my friends and family?
Sore throat, dizzy, runny nose, aches, hot and cold shivers. I hate it, I don’t need it. I want to be better. I’ve got things I need to do but I have to be patient. It’s very frustrating, and the longer things get left the less I want to do them.
Someone told me if it’s just one line even if it’s the C line it’s negative? Googled it and apparently you have to have both lines to be positive. I will test again in the morning but might be good news. X
I’m trying to be honest with this post, I am honest when I blog but I don’t express my emotions here very much. What I will say is that when I’m down I get energy from love and friendship from family and friends. But what I don’t do is seek out those people when I feel sad. I guess I don’t like dragging others down with me. I hide away from them and instead of getting healing energy I feel lower moods.
But when I allow people to know what’s going on, I think I get positive energy from them. Which can lift my mood. It’s just finding a balance, it’s hard to do that.
I think I also get energy from doing art. It increases my enthusiasm to do more. It makes me feel free and able to use my imagination. I get a lot more energy from Art when family and friends enjoy what I do, in that way I know what I’m doing is possibly worthwhile. One thing I do have is imposter syndrome which means I feel like I question my validity a lot. Perhaps that’s why I blog.
I started this last year. It was recommended as a way of bringing more positive thoughts to my mind. I have done it for 323 days now and there’s no sign of me stopping. I’m most of the way through my third sketchbook. I draw a sketch for each of three gratitudes and a short description of what I’m grateful for.
The idea is you don’t write big gratitudes, but little ones so you don’t feel put off by not having a big enough thing to write about. So on one day I wrote that the traffic lights were on green and I got to the doctors in time. For that I drew the traffic lights. Another could be that the cat came up and was very loving. I drew a curled up cat. Finally I wanted something else to write, and the plants in the garden were lovely so I wrote that and drew some flowers.
I have continued to do this each day, sometimes I forget, but it’s a good habit for me to keep to and it has helped me to keep things together. So if I’ve forgotten I will catch it up. It’s become that important to me. It’s going to mean a lot of gratitude sketchbooks though if I carry on!
Describe a random encounter with a stranger that stuck out positively to you.
I was visiting friends at their new house about 40 miles away and I got lost. My hubby doesn’t like asking for directions so we struggled. I could not find where the place was and I’d forgotten to bring the A to Z map, (before satnav which I still don’t have). After a couple of miles of confusion I pulled over to ask a random stranger. I had moved up from that county years ago and I remembered how helpful they are.
Oh yes dear, said the old man, I know where it is. You go down the road past the speedway track (that’s where I met my wife you know), turn left onto the main road past the church (oh we got married there). Right at the roundabout (where I took my driving test), left at the football ground (my team, I’ve supported them for years). Then it’s second on the left (you can’t miss it, the trees are in blossom down there), and you’re at the street…..
After that long conversation we found my friends house easily. I was happy we had stopped. It reminded me of the type of people in that area, always friendly and talkative, engaging and funny. It was a positive encounter.
Gratitude is something I’m trying to find every day. Three little things that I can write even if it’s been a bad day? Things like being stuck in traffic but someone let me out at a junction. I went to an art meeting today and people appreciated what I was saying, and I’ve trained my cat to jump up on my knee when I whistle him so he can have a love. That’s the little light in the dark tunnel. A spark that makes me feel a bit better. I’ll take that. X
I’m getting some help with my mental health and one of the things I’ve taken up is to do a gratitude diary. Basically you write down three things you are grateful for every day. I do it before bed, and I remember small things that have made me happy during the day. Not big dramatic things (today was a bit of an exception because two things were slightly more important) on other days I’ve included the cat on my lap, or standing in the garden full of flowers.
So why do it? It appears to rewire your brain, cutting down on negative thoughts and turning them positive. I have been advised to do it for at least 28 days. I’m not suggesting anyone else does it, but it’s helping me.
I’m trying to be more positive and to retrain my brain at the moment. The idea is that every evening for at least twenty eight days you try and write three gratitudes to get on a more positive train if thought. They shouldn’t be massive things that are overwhelming, but small things, little things you recognise as something to cherish. I’m on day eight and I think it’s helping a bit. I’m trying to encourage my hubby to do it too. Of course I have included sketches, it makes things more real.
Mallaband-Brown 