What If It’s Hard to Stay Positive?

Struggling to stay positive when you’re encountering negativity.

Photo by Francis Odeyemi on Unsplash

This story was inspired after reading

Durgaa

’s “You Become What You Focus On.” One heading in the author’s article grabbed my attention: But What If It’s Hard to Stay Positive? These days, that feels like a Herculean task for me.

Depression has taken its toll on my spirit. Current events like watching the U.S. government shutdown on the news; scrolling through racist, disturbing videos on social media websites; feeling burned out after one too many stressful workdays have left me isolating and not practicing self-care.

I also consider myself to be an empath, someone who can sense and absorb others’ emotions.

It’s been both a blessing and a curse, especially with the latter. I feel drained from toxic encounters: relatives who enjoy belittling others at family gatherings; two-faced coworkers in the workplace; and attention seeking acquaintances in social settings.

For someone who believed he was optimistic to weather any storm by writing daily morning pages, listening to classical jazz, or taking walks in my neighborhood, I’m struggling to stay positive.

Durgaa wrote “when you’re in a heavy season, people saying ‘just focus on the good’ can feel almost…