Personal Hacks

How A Positive Outlook Changed My Life

By Lauren | February 21, 2017

Hi everyone!

I promise I am not being all preachy and *My trip to Asia like totally change my life, everyone should try it man*, I promise. I just need to give you a little background on why I had this change of heart on the way I look at life.

Basically, I went to Thailand and when I was there I learnt a lot about their culture and way of life (obviously Lauren) but the one thing that really warmed something inside of me was the way they look at karma. We had a tour guide called Jimmy, who was a wonderful human being and he told us how all of his family and himself treat people with as much kind and respect as possible because they believed what they put out they got back and if you’re a nice, trustworthy person you are guaranteed a nice time in the next life as are your family.

I thought it was such an amazing thing and as soon as landed back in London, I wish i could say I put it straight to the best and grew dreadlocks but in fact I just forgot all about it.

Until a few weeks ago…

I decided there had to be some truth it what Jimmy said. Everyone I had ever spoke to about Thailand told me how kind and friendly the people were and it’s because of this outlook on life. Of course there are going to be a few bad people but overall they were the kindest people I have ever met.

So this is where this all started. A few weeks ago. I wanted to be like Jimmy and start having a more positive outlook on my life. I am was 100% guilty of thinking the majority of people were out to get me and thought bad things about me but, the truth is I feel like i was a self fulffiling prophecy.

I live abroad, in sunny old Spain and me and my family have all dealt with our fair share of racism and I know there will always be some prejudice with certain people against foreigners in other countries. What I am trying to say is that I know racism when I see it and yes, some people really don’t want to help you and some people really wish you weren’t around BUT i lived with the mindset that virtually everyone disliked me and was out to get me for far too long. (This doesn’t just go for foreign people it goes for everyone).

There will always be arseholes in this world and there will always be somebody that hates you but, the truth is not everyone is out to get you and if you put posiitivity out there, you will eventually get it back.

I can’t lie and say it’s all my fault for thinking these things, it’s not. I have, at times, been unfairly treated for being foreign and living abroad. I have stories that would make you shake with rage (I hope) and so have a lot of other people. BUT recently I decided to just see what would happen if I didn’t let anything get to me and just live like Jimmy did.

It was hard because I am naturally someone who doesn’t like to be walked all over and i am naturally someone who longs to be liked.

My initial thoughts were that I would be treated like rubbish and have people taking advantage but the truth is, the complete opposite happened.

People in supermarkets were talking to me, random strangers smiled at me, one man asked me if I needed help putting my desk together and another lady gave me her shopping cart because she saw I needed it.

It may seem like small, insignificant things but they all add up and I had never really felt them before. I also don’t think that these weeks have been a one off, I’ve noticed I am a lot less angry when driving, which was a giant hurdle for me.

I can’t lie and say it’s all been plain sailing, there are still people out there determined to make me crash in to them or want me to spit abuse at their supposed customer service employees but the more I let it go, the easier it gets to be nice.

I also don’t want you to think I was ever horrible to anyone, I just used to have zero expectations for the majority of people and how they would treat me. I also don’t want you to think people are being nice because I am being nice, because that’s the complete opposite of what i am saying. I tried for years in school to be kind and nice to people and I still had bullies and teachers make my life hell.

Truthfully, I don’t think positive thinking would work for a kid, because other kids can be evil. I am talking about adults and how we handle situations and how we as adults perceive people.

All of these silly tumblr and pinterest quotes that say things like ‘positive vibes’, ‘think positive‘ and so on, do actually posess some truth. Don’t get me wrong if someone was rude to me or did something to offend me, I would stand up for myself but by making a small change and radiating these positive vibes out in to the world and not just my inner circle, I actually feel a massive difference in the way I live my life and my overall happiness levels.

The nasty people are still there and always going to be there, but they no longer concern me.

If you’re going to try it, there will be bad days and there will be days that people are rude to you but if you can get past that and not just dwindle on it like I used to do, it makes such a change and in your overall being.

I really appreciate you reading this, thank you so much.

Lauren.x