Focusing on the positives ( after the Canucks loss )

It’s been a little over a week since the mayhem took place in this beautiful city I call home, Vancouver.

People all over the world are talking about the Stanley Cup riots in Vancouver and it really is very shameful and embarrassing. Their loss to the Boston Bruins in the deciding game of the Stanley Cup finals crushed the dream that Vancouver would be the first Canadian-based team to claim the trophy since 1993 turned instead into rioting in the streets. 😥

The past few months here in Vancouver have been very interesting. The city was alive with team spirit and an overwhelming sense of camaraderie. It was like the Olympics all over again! People were excited and united. There were Canucks jerseys, signage, flags and logos EVERYWHERE! Hockey was what everyone talked about. It was on everyone’s minds and all over the news and newspapers (from what I was told….I don’t watch the news or read newspapers 😉 )

Although I am not a hockey fan, I couldn’t help but be drawn into the excitement of the games. While watching the games I was very impressed by the players on both teams.  But in the end, there can only be one team that wins. So many people were so focused on the fact that they lost and forgot to appreciate how hard the players worked to get to the finals and how great they are for getting that far.

Winning is important in sports, I get that.  The players train for years and work really hard to win but sometimes life is not about winning. There have been many times in my life where I worked really hard to achieve a certain goal, and it didn’t work out the way I planned. This is why it is incredibly important to be able to recognize and overcome one of the 10 “Automatic Negative Thoughts” which is “Focusing on the Negatives.” This is when we focus exclusively on certain, usually negative or upsetting, aspects of something while ignoring the rest.

What about taking the time to remember how fantastic the team is? They played hundreds of games that led up to that one, and after the last game was over both teams lined up, shook hands and congratulated each other. That is sportsmanship in every sense of the word.

If you concentrate on what’s good, you’re going to be more motivated and excited and automatically start looking for ways to get more of the same. I am very aware of the fact that there is always a reason or a lesson in everything that happens to us. Even the crappy stuff. I remind myself of that when something upsetting happens. I ask myself “What is the lesson here?” Most people dwell more on the negative events rather than the positive ones. But no matter how much time, energy and thought you put into it, there’s nothing you can do to change the past.  It’s gone and it’s NEVER coming back. All you can do is learn from any mistakes you’ve made and make use of that lesson in the future.

Try to find any positive thing(s) about the negative aspect or situation. Any positive thing will at least start to move you in the direction of growth and enhancement. The more you focus on the positives and celebrate your successes, the more you will start to create a habit that will absolutely change how you look at the world while making your life much more enjoyable.