I don’t consider myself a germ freak, but I try to do what I can to cut down on the chances of getting sick. I’m diligent about washing my hands, and I try to minimize my exposure to those who are already infected with a bug.
But there’s one virus that escaped my diligence back during my son’s time in the military and swept through our home, leaving devastation in its wake–the negativity virus. That nasty little bug showed up first—carried into our home by me—during our son’s time in the military. Like most viruses, it didn’t hit full force, but the symptoms showed up one after another.
The first one was my change in focus. I only noticed the difficult things happening around me. And the more I complained, the more they began to dominate my thinking. The next symptom that showed up was frustration, followed closely by impatience. The more frustrated I got, the more impatient I became. This was inevitably followed by loss of temper.
Read More: A Gold Medal in Positive Thinking
By that time the negativity virus had taken over my life and began to infect those around me. It wasn’t long before we found ourselves living in a disease-ridden environment. I knew I had to take steps to fight this bug and here’s what I did:
1) I put a guard on my tongue and did my best to only speak things that were uplifting and positive. I worked hard to quit complaining about whatever bugged me.
2) I listened to joyful music. Sometimes I played my favorites, at other times I played music that my two sons who were still at home enjoyed. But the idea was to lift our spirits.
3) I posted sticky notes with encouraging quotes and Bible verses throughout the house. I put them on bathroom mirrors, kitchen cabinets—even on the microwave door. Wherever a family member might go in the house, there was a note!
4) I did my best to turn any obstacle into a challenge for success. When I was unhappy about how infrequently I heard from our military son, I used that to spur me into writing more letters and sending more boxes his way.
5) Finally, I increased the time I spent in prayer and Bible reading. This was the “chicken soup” for my soul. By filling up on the good stuff, I had less room for the negative.
It took a few weeks, but finally our house was free of the negativity virus. Now that I know what to look for, I can prevent this epidemic from visiting us again. How do you make your home a positive environment?
