Matt Black vs Negativity (Filter Friday edition)

Filter Friday!

So what is Filter Friday? Let me explain.

Just as anyone else, throughout life I deal with daily struggles. Work, finances, family, friends… Many of us have a lot going on… Sometimes more than we realize. All these things can generate stress. I wish I could call it the 4 letter bad word, but it has 6 letters, and that just doesn’t have a catchy feel to it! So I will just call it A bad word! When stress levels get high, it effects us in more ways than we probably realize. Mentally and physically it takes toll on our mind, body and spirit.
Most of our stress comes from different places, but throughout my career I have had the opportunity to see others in a whole lot more bad shape than me, and have been able to try and help them with stress management. Some of the things I deal with at work are very bad situations that no one would want to be in, but some can’t help it.

Developing a defense to this evil stress is very important! I feel like the more positive i am about general ever day things, the less stressed i am about anything. Being positive can be very hard! Especially with all the bad that lurks around asking questions that cannot be answered. We live in sometimes feels like an evil world, and with more negative energy it is only going to get worse! So I say let’s change that and..get Positive! let’s do what’s right!

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 the unpleasantness ( I really hope that’s a word! Sorry, as you can tell I didn’t major in English!) in a more positive and productive way. You think the best is going to happen, not the worst.

Positive thinking starts inside you. If you get your attitude right, it will then reflect outside. If thoughts that run through your head are mostly negative, your outlook on life is more likely pessimistic. If your thoughts are mostly positive, you’re likely an optimist — someone who practices positive thinking.

There are tests that have proved that stress and being negative can effect multiple things in our life, but did you know that optimistic people are less likely to get common colds? No one likes a cold! So if that is my only motivation I can give to you to be more positive…then I think it’s still worth it! But it s not easy by no means, and will take practice, practice, practice. I found some good tips online about becoming more positive and would like to share a few..

1. Put God in your heart and love others as he loves us. That seems like an easy one, but it is easy to forget our faith and leave God on the back burner. In my opinion, a healthy relationship with our creator should be the first priority every day we get up. Pray hard and Pray often. It will help in more ways you can imagine…just try it if you don’t believe me!

2. Identify areas to change. If you want to become more optimistic and engage in more positive thinking, first identify areas of your life that you typically think negatively about, whether it’s work, your daily commute or a relationship, for example. You can start small by focusing on one area to approach in a more positive way.

3. Check yourself. Periodically during the day, stop and evaluate what you’re thinking. If you find that your thoughts are mainly negative, try to find a way to put a positive spin on them.

4. Be open to humor. Give yourself permission to smile or laugh, especially during difficult times. Seek humor in everyday happenings. When you can laugh at life, you feel less stressed. Be able to laugh at yourself, and then share it!

5. Follow a healthy lifestyle. Exercise at least three times a week to positively affect mood and reduce stress. Follow a healthy diet to fuel your mind and body. And learn to manage stress. eating has been my weakness. I have been overweight and out of shape for years, but over the past two months I have been changing, and I can personally tell you that it makes a huge difference!

6. Surround yourself with positive people. Make sure those in your life are positive, supportive people you can depend on to give helpful advice and feedback. Negative people may increase your stress level and make you doubt your ability to manage stress in healthy ways. Those more negative friends, you need to pray for and help them turn more positive.

7. Practice positive self-talk. Start by following one simple rule: Don’t say anything to yourself that you wouldn’t say to anyone else. Be gentle and encouraging with yourself. If a negative thought enters your mind, evaluate it rationally and respond what is good about you. For example…. If you are in a situation that you say .. there is no way this will work, try to change that to… I will try to make this work. Another example is if you find yourself saying I’m not getting any better at this….try to tell yourself I’ll give it another try. It will not be easy, but worth the try!

If you tend to have a negative outlook, don’t expect to become an optimist overnight. But with practice, eventually you will feel better about things. You may also become less critical of the world around you. Plus, when you share your positive mood and positive experience, both you and those around you enjoy an emotional boost. I promise it works!

Wow, I have probably stretched this a little larger than I wanted to but I am long winded! So let me get back to answer my own question I started this blog with.

What is Filter Friday? Filter Friday is a something I started to share with family and friends to remind ourselves to take one day out of the week and filter out negativity and replace with positivity. Every Friday try to wake up knowing you are going to have a good day no matter what happens around you! Do anything possible on Friday to let go of negative thoughts,actions and even negative people around you for just one day! Look negativity in the eye and tell it…today you are going to stay away! Focus on doing what is right, let the things that would normally bother you or get on your nerves, roll off your back. Tell people positive things! Smile more, give a wave or a nod to strangers when you walk by them in the hall. Try to be positive inside and out, it will feel great! This challenge will be hard, but remember you are just trying this for one day. Let’s see how it feels! Let’s see what we get in return. See what it feels like! I promise you will like it! It is a great way to kick off the weekend!

Give Filter Friday shot, tell your friends to try it! Everyone enjoys a challenge!

Let’s all Fiiiiilllttteeeerrrrr Friiiidddaaayyy!!!!!!

May God bless us all!

Black out…

The Power of a Smile

It is 0615 on a gorgeous Saturday morning and I am up feeling good. It hit me this morning on how truly blessed I am with family and friends who love me. I try to be the best father, husband and friend that I can and realize that life is not easy, so why pass up the easiest way to spread warmth from your heart…as in a simple smile. Give a smile, spread a smile seems like an easy way to show emotion of happiness, and makes you feel good inside! I challenge you to Think about it the next time you walk into a Walmart and the door greeter says Welcome to Walmart…and smiles. Do they love what they do? Is it the most gratifying job? Standing in on place all day long? I say it is. How many smiles do they get to give and receive in one day? They get to see smiles from thousands of people and get to warm others with their smiles. I encourage you to smile at every person you pass today, and see if they return it with a smile. It will warm you inside). God bless…