Are You Addicted to ‘Gloom and Doom’?

Are You Addicted to ‘Gloom and Doom’?
How affirmations really work.

by LAUREN MACKLER
Published: November 7, 2009

For example, you feel lonely and sad, but instead of isolating yourself, you do something positive. Maybe you attend a cooking class, volunteer at a soup kitchen, or go out for a run—something that refocuses your thoughts and produces a more positive experience rather than sitting home alone eating cookies and feeling sorry for yourself.

Chronic negative thinking and the emotions it invokes is, like many destructive behaviors, a form of addiction. People become addicted to habitual, “gloom and doom” thoughts, as well as to the emotions they produce—such as fear and anger. It becomes their comfort zone—it may not be very pleasant, but it’s familiar.
SOURCE:  HEALYOURLIFE.COM

LifeSkills Authorities Founder, Michael Plahn’s Comments:

My personal experience with this concept can be encapsulated in a phrase that a mentor and dear friend of mine led me and even at times, coerced me into believing.  I can still hear him say, “kid, the understanding will never precede the action.”  Now, I would first be insulted because he knew I was no kid.  I was in a highly regarded graduate program in clinical psychology and knew a great deal about the change process, or so I thought at the time.  So, this fell on deaf ears for a while, but today I know he was exactly correct.

So many of us seem to ask WHY and want to know the cause for every situation, but is that what is needed to reach peace and happiness.  Life and some of my most difficult situations have even changed to look like blessings in hindsight.  But, this would not have happened if I had not taken the positive actions that I was encouraged to take in order to change.  So, for someone who was learning about and writing scholarly papers on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and the Behavioral Change Process I understood that action was essential, but what I needed was the objective feedback (which my mentor/coach gave me).  When I combined positive affirmations/positve thoughts, positive actions, and objective feedback to determine what positive actions should be taken, dramatic change took place.

In the rear-view mirror of my life, it is quite clear that in many instances, the path I took was the right one for me.  But, in the middle of a storm that decision to take a road less traveled is not so easy.  An objective advocate is essential to navigate the change process successfully.  That is why I feel so strongly about LSA’s Recovery Care Coaching and Executive Care Coaching programs. Contact us today to learn more about our services.