{"id":176,"date":"2015-09-30T20:09:12","date_gmt":"2015-09-30T20:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplyfabulous\/?p=176"},"modified":"2015-09-30T20:09:12","modified_gmt":"2015-09-30T20:09:12","slug":"neutralize-that-negativity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplyfabulous\/2015\/09\/neutralize-that-negativity.html","title":{"rendered":"Neutralize that Negativity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>While I was at lunch yesterday with a friend, she made a comment that stuck with me. \u00a0We were talking about a situation with my tiny house that was causing me some stress and anxiety, when she said&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><em>The situation itself is neutral. \u00a0It&#8217;s your reaction to the situation that is positive or negative.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It took a minute for me to comprehend that. \u00a0But then, as the truth of what she said began to sink in, I felt some of the weight lifting off of me.<\/p>\n<p>The things that happen in our life are indeed, <em>neutral<\/em>. \u00a0They happen, good or bad. \u00a0But our reactions are what turn them into positive or negative experiences.<\/p>\n<p>Now, of course, an experience like the death of a loved one probably won&#8217;t feel very neutral. \u00a0How could you react any way but negatively? \u00a0 \u00a0But even with such an experience, you can turn the tragedy or loss into something positive. \u00a0It&#8217;s what I&#8217;ve tried to do since my mother&#8217;s passing in 2013.<\/p>\n<p>Or if that person had been ill for a long time, had made peace with their situation and was &#8220;ready&#8221; to go&#8230; would you still react negatively?<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s rather brain-warping to think about, but the reality is that the experiences themselves\u00a0<em>are<\/em> neutral. \u00a0And it is our reactions that color them good or bad.<\/p>\n<p>We can choose how we react and in turn, how we will allow it to affect our lives.<\/p>\n<p>We can choose to trust that God is in control and that He will use all things for good.<\/p>\n<p>So the next time the negativity tries to creep in&#8230; neutralize it!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While I was at lunch yesterday with a friend, she made a comment that stuck with me. \u00a0We were talking about a situation with my tiny house that was causing me some stress and anxiety, when she said&#8230; The situation itself is neutral. \u00a0It&#8217;s your reaction to the situation that is positive or negative. It&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":589,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[28,273,31,265,125,118,126,141,149,244,390,123,179,124,391,393,394,392,116],"class_list":["post-176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-anxiety","tag-calm","tag-emotions","tag-encourage","tag-encouragement","tag-feelings","tag-inspiration","tag-life","tag-life-lessons","tag-motivation","tag-negative-thoughts","tag-negativity","tag-peace","tag-positive-thinking","tag-positivity","tag-stress","tag-stress-relief","tag-thinking","tag-thoughts"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Neutralize that Negativity - Simply Fabulous<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplyfabulous\/2015\/09\/neutralize-that-negativity.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Neutralize that Negativity - Simply Fabulous\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While I was at lunch yesterday with a friend, she made a comment that stuck with me. \u00a0We were talking about a situation with my tiny house that was causing me some stress and anxiety, when she said&#8230; The situation itself is neutral. \u00a0It&#8217;s your reaction to the situation that is positive or negative. 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