Tell me something positive.

 “…the man who isn't a pessimist is a damned fool.”
                                                                   (Mark Twain)

“Tell me something positive,” my CrossFit coach asked me as I walked into the building the other day. I pondered for about ten seconds without coming up with anything to say.  So, I flipped around the conversation and asked him to tell me something positive and he did the same thing until he responded with “I’ll just show you a picture of my kid.” 

Look, I would never identify as being Susie Sunshine, but I was stunned afterwards that I overlooked all the wonderful aspects of my life. Heck, I couldn’t even come up with something as simple as, “I’m still breathing in and out.”

I wondered, is the default setting of our brains to think negatively and if so, why? Is that some leftover aspect from evolution when our lives depended on avoiding fatal events at every turn?  And does this negative thinking affect our health and quality of life?

Of course, we all know the positive thinking and encouragement quotes that hang on the walls of countless schools and offices indicating there must be some truth to the concept of positive thinking = healthy humans. So, down a rabbit hole I went researching all the peer-reviewed journals of medical publications that I could find (and understand) to better acquaint myself with the default negative setting in my own head.

During this research graduate-style session, a friend texted me and I asked her to tell me something positive and she immediately rattled off a couple of items.  

“What?!? How did you do that so quickly?”

Apparently, she writes in a gratitude journal daily. I remembered I tried that more than once in my life and I could never make the daily exercise stick.  Perhaps, a bug in my programming language.  But with all the research I read today that illuminated the direct correlation between positive thinking and better health outcomes, isn’t it worth it to fix that bug?

Of course, the answer is yes! However, do you really think I am going to crack open a journal tonight and start writing away?  Of course, the answer is no. Let’s be real.

The gratitude journal is not the solution that will help me to hack my brain programming. Instead, I am going to put a sticky note on my bathroom mirror that reads, “tell me something positive.” This will be the daily reminder I need to help nudge me towards breaking out of the negative mindset.

How do you think you can hack your own programming to fix the bugs?

Quick, tell me something positive.