One of the drawbacks of being immunocompromised, which I am due to medications I need to take as a kidney transplant recipient, is dealing with side effects such as skin cancer. I’ve faced this issue many times over the years, and fortunately have kept it from becoming a major problem by staying on top of it through regular screening checkups.
That doesn’t mean I’m always thrilled about having to go to the dermatologist. The other day I needed to do just that, to have a small spot on my chest treated. It wasn’t so much undergoing the procedure itself, which was minor. It was the disruption in my day. I was busy promoting my new book, Life Lessons, and didn’t want to be interrupted.
But then an interesting thing happened. On the drive to the appointment, along the tree-lined parkways of Long Island, I beheld a spectacular display of fall color. It was a bright and sunny day, and this made the variety of colors all the more striking.
It was a delightful surprise, because I had assumed the fall foliage had already peaked in our area.
This spectacular display of nature—which I attempted to capture with my iPhone but the photos don’t nearly do it justice—turned what had been
a negative into a positive. It’s an example of how looking for and embracing the good things in life, such as nature at its best, can help us live with everyday annoyances and even major problems. In this case, if not for the appointment I might have missed out on this opportunity.
We can so easily be engulfed by negativity. Do you ever wake up feeling great and ready to take on any challenges, and then before the morning is over some setback sends you spiraling into a negative state of mind? Maybe your boss berates you, or you get into a fight with your spouse, or the barista gets your coffee order wrong.
Any number of things can happen throughout the day that get us feeling negative. But the thing is, we have the ability to stop downward spirals and get back into a positive mindset. It just takes a little effort, a change of mindset.
The effort is well worth it, because positivity is a lot more enjoyable than negativity. It’s also better for your health. Among the potential health benefits of positive thinking and optimism, according to the Mayo Clinic are:
- Increased life span
- Lower rates of depression
- Lower levels of distress and pain
- Greater resistance to illnesses
- Better psychological and physical well-being
- Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress
Wow! Why then do we often gravitate so easily to the negative aspects of life? I’m not qualified to answer that. But I do know that experiences in life can range from mildly annoying to overwhelming, and these experiences can leave us feeling discouraged and at times even hopeless.
That’s why we need to keep looking for the positives. And they are all around us if we’re open to looking for them. Sometimes they’re staring us right in the face.
Remember, positivity is a choice. While we can’t control external events, we can control our reactions to them by opting to focus on a more optimistic and constructive mindset. It doesn’t mean we should ignore negative feelings. It means we need to actively choose to look on the bright side of things whenever we can.
“Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.”—Mahatma Gandhi
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