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Ruben Llamas

Ms. O’Keefe

English IV

11 March 2019

Positivity

Positivity is an action or feeling that is universal. Many times people use it to their

advantage to help themselves or help others. Other times, people choose not to use it or spread it.

In shorter terms, positivity is something that can be spread throughout the world, or even the last

person you talked to. It all depends how you view and want the world to be. Some think that

being a positive person makes people have fewer negative emotions in the future. Others think

that being a negative person leads to a shorter life span, while being positive leads to a longer

and happier life. Still others believe that by spreading more positivity, you are actually helping

the world become a better place by encouraging others to change for the good. Positivity can

lead to a happier, longer, and fun life. Negative thoughts can also be changed and transformed

into positive thoughts.

Being someone positive does not take a lot of effort in all honesty. Most of the time,

people can make other peoples day by just giving a simple compliment or by doing an action.

This lead others to do the same by having that positive mindset, people set themselves up for a

happier life. As people age, they tend to experience fewer negative emotions within their life.

Strategic processes in older adults memory might play a role in the aging process. “Older adults
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show more emotionally gratifying memory distortion for past choices and autobiographical

information than younger adults do.”(Mather, Mara, and Laura L. Carstensen) As people get

older, they show more emotion towards their feelings. When you’re old, you tend to look back at

all the good times that you had. Without those good times, it’s hard to think positive. In the

future, you’ll appreciate what you had or did not have. The quote reveals many things, such as

how human emotion is crucial at a young age. At a young age, people need to experience more

happiness. Without happiness, when the kids become adults, they will have nothing to look back

at when they are older.

Positivity is something that needs to be practiced all the time, so it can become a habit.

Positivity is not something you are born with, so it takes time to learn and adapt to. If people

want to become better people not just physically but mentally, they need to make the first step on

being someone kind or positive. ​“​For positive media to have strong, lasting effects on us

individually or collectively, I believe we need to consume it consistently, over time, just as

eating right only once a week does not make us healthier.”(​Janicke, Sophie) People need to

understand that positivity isn’t something that is achieved in just one day. People have to work

for it one day or step at a time. It’s also not something that you can do everyday, because if it is,

it won’t go into full effect. Positivity being taught by just looking can be a good way to start a

good path. Personally, I never knew that media could have an effect on how you act when it

comes to being negative or positive. Showing people a movie or something on social media

could have an influence on them.

The question is set to show how we can become more positive people. Happiness is not a

destination as it is described by many people. Happiness is a way of life. ​“We can start by
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surrounding ourselves with good, healthy, positive people.”(​Acquaviva, Allison)​ ​By being

around other people who are similar to you and have similar goals, you are improving the energy

around you. In order to have that good energy, you need to improve on yourself and the people

you hang around. This will lead you to work on yourself, then work on other people to promote a

better world. The quote or phrase reveals how people can become better for not only themselves,

but for others. In order to help others, you need to help yourself. By helping yourself, you are

benefiting the world or your community. You are putting one more positive person while

encouraging another.

Being someone negative can be changed easily. Negative thoughts can be changed in

many different ways. Just because people have had a bad past doesn’t mean that they can’t

change it in the future. ​Keep making the positive feelings stronger than the negative ones while

being aware of both of them at once. After a dozen or more seconds, let the anxiety go and stay

with the feeling of being cared about for another dozen seconds or so. If the person does not feel

as if it is working and that anxiety is still there. This means that the feeling is still their. The

emotions are still there in the end. ​“​You can deliberately be aware of both positive and negative

material, so that the positive will connect with the negative.”(​Hanson, Rick) ​Because one is

thinking about something else in the moment, people tend to forget about what they were even

going through in the beginning. In all, the point is to just forget what is going on in the situation,

and ignore it. ​ Forgetting situations lead to a happier and healthier life. This can relate to the idea

of having only good energy around you. When people only have good energy around them, then

nothing but happiness will come to you.

People could be going through a hard time in their lives. If you become negative to other
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people and don’t realize this, then it will just make the other person mad and make them continue

to become bad people. “Their negative actions probably have nothing to do with you, they’re just

expressing their negativity, and you happen to be there to receive it.”(​Buggy, Patrick.) A lot of

people will be negative towards you. Most of the time, these people just have problems at home

that they can’t seem to solve. It’s not our job to just take it in, but people can try to think in their

shoes. Some of those people can be cured or looked at different if you just say something nice, or

do a kind deed like holding the door for them. Fire should not be fought with fire. Most of the

time, people are not who they seem. You just have to make the time to get to know the person.

Sometimes, you just have to understand what others go through in life because not everyone has

it the same.

In many situations, people should learn to accept the bad. Their is always going to be bad

in something. A lot of the times, bad energy is needed to grow. People need to be able to learn

from mistakes in order to succeed in difficult situations. “Positive thinking doesn't mean that you

keep your head in the sand and ignore life's less pleasant situations. Positive thinking just means

that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive and productive way.”(Staff, Mayo Clinic.)

A lot of people think that being positive just means ignore the bad, but you need bad in order to

create good in life. In order to teach other, you need to have experience. Without experience, you

can’t teach anyone the correct way to change themselves for the better. The quote reveals how

many people can benefit from not only helping themselves, but others as well. Benefits of being

more optimistic include a longer life span, low rates of depression, and better coping skills when

stressed out. This can be done by just simply being in a situation where instead of giving up, you

ask yourself “how can I do better?”

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A lot of the times, positivity can be a good thing for people to understand, which can

benefit them with more life, more fun, and more happiness. Negative thoughts also get in the

way with many issues, but can be changed with the help of you experience. Positivity is an issue

that will be difficult to solve. In many ways, people can help themselves to start off. In order to

help yourself, you need to be able to accept advice. Other times, you need to save yourself from

drowning in negativity to help others. You can’t help others if you can’t help yourself. To be

effective, starting a small community will do the trick. If people do small deeds around the

community, that will go a much longer way. People do good things when good things are done to

them. The never ending cycle of positivity starts with us.

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References

Mather, Mara, and Laura L. Carstensen. “Aging and Motivated Cognition: the Positivity Effect in

Attention and Memory.” ​NeuroImage,​ Academic Press, 8 Sept. 2005,

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364661305002378​.

Staff, Mayo Clinic. “How to Stop Negative Self-Talk.” ​Mayo Clinic,​ Mayo Foundation for Medical

Education and Research, 18 Feb. 2017,

www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/positive-thinking/art-20043950​.

Yaniz, Robert. “6 Small Ways to Improve Your Mood and Spread Positivity.” ​Rewire,​ Rewire, 30

Aug. 2018, ​www.rewire.org/our-future/improve-mood-spread-positivity/​.

Maragou, Anastasia. “Negative Behaviour : 11 Ways to Be Less Negative.” ​Psych2Go,​ 20 Oct. 2017,

psych2go.net/11-ways-less-negative/.

Hanson, Rick. “Changing Negative Thoughts.” ​Dr. Rick Hanson​, Foundations Team, 15 June 2018,

www.rickhanson.net/changing-negative-thoughts/​.

Acquaviva, Allison. “How to Live a Happy Life: Tip #1 – Surround Yourself with Positive People.”
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Utica College​, 1 May 2014,

www.utica.edu/student-blogs/how-to-live-a-happy-life-tip-1-surround-yourself-with-positive-people/​.

Janicke, Sophie. “How Positive Media Can Make Us Better People.” ​Greater Good​, 27 Apr. 2016,

greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_positive_media_can_make_us_better_people.

Buggy, Patrick. “6 Mindful Strategies for Dealing With Negativity.” ​Mindful Ambition​, 18 July

2018, mindfulambition.net/dealing-with-negativity/.