SUGAR SWEET:

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

I've been trying to be more optimistic lately. I am a worry-aholic, yes I just invented a new word. Anyway, I am one of those people that sits up all night thinking about all the things I have to get done the next day. I am a Christian but I, like most people have my weaknesses. Christians are not supposed to worry themseleves with things that are out of their control, which is pretty much everything; they are supposed to look to God to make it alright. Now I know that every person is not a religious or spiritual person, so for the worry-aholic people out there, I think I've found a solution that really works. Most people have heard of positive reinforcement. For those of you who have not, here's a brief definition: Positive reinforcement is remaining optimistic about whatever situation you find yourself in. For instance, if you have a major exam or meeting to go to, you simly say to yourself "The meeting/exam will be a piece of cake" or something positive. I have found that once I claim a negative outcome of something, the negative prevails.

Positive reinforcement has really been working for me lately. It helps relieve a lot of my everyday stress. You have to believe that everything will work out just fine and it will. Positive reinforcement is also encouraging to the people around you. IF your friend or someone close to you is going through something, telling them that everything will be ok may seem like sugar- coating but it is actually very helpful. Sometimes just hearing that from someone else is reassuring and helps the person to believe it. My mother does this all the time to me when I get down about something, she tells me it will be fine and that encourages me to believe it.

Try it out for a while and see if it works. It has for me.

TEll me what you think....

~Lana~