Have today’s circumstances made positive thinking impossible?
By Rand O’Leary, FACHE
The work of healthcare professionals, though important and rewarding, is challenging even at the best of times. But three years of a pandemic has exacerbated the problems that existed even before its arrival. Now, it seems that anger is simmering under the surface of every interaction, whether between fellow staff members or patients and providers. It’s as though negativity is in the air we breathe.
After the demands and exhaustion of the past several years, this way of thinking is engrained. Our brains often tend to be drawn to the negative. We personalize things and blame others. We might feel we are right and have a hard time hearing another opinion, and we put our emotions in the driver’s seat. With what seems like so much going against us, the battle feels real. Even though the harmful effects of all this negativity on our personal health and the people and environments around us are obvious, it feels overwhelming and exhausting even to begin to think about changing our mindset. At this point, is it impossible to think more positively?
Throughout my life, I have seen that it is true that your thoughts become your words, and your words become your actions. I wonder if it is possible to reverse-engineer this adage, using our actions and words to impact our thoughts. As another old adage says: whatever you feed will grow. How do we feed positive thinking? Through kindness and gratitude in word and deed.
Just be kind.
With all we are up against, a solution as simple as “showing kindness” can feel trite, nowhere near big enough to address our problems. But for most of us, our own actions and words are one of the few things we can control in this environment of frustration and anger.