# Becoming less cynical and more embracing



## Zarrix (Apr 22, 2008)

During my childhood and into my early adulthood, I was constantly let down by people. Then things changed as I began to realise the world wasn't such a bad place after all. But following a traumatic event in 2011, my old anxieties and cynical outlook returned and remain to this day. 

My objective is to remove this state of mind and replace it with a positive one, but to remove reinforced philosophies emotionally is not going to be easy for me.

Any tips which help cultivate a more positive frame of mind would be appreciated. Want to change my outlook on people and socialising as much as i can in twelve months, as that is when i would like to go on exchange.


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## Jay-Son (Dec 18, 2008)

I think this is a fantastic goal.

My main piece of advice is to remember we are all human. We make mistakes, and do irrational things. Remember this next time you are down on yourself for for a recent error in life, or someone else being the perpetrator behind your direct cynical nature.

Also remember, life can be volatile at times. Sometime sit feels like a cruel world, but something great can be right around the corner. Patience, and catching your naysaying thoughts are paramount to keeping your sanity at times. If the cynicism in your hea dbecomes to overwhelming, have a select audio playlist on hand to drown it out and disable it.


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## awkwardsilent (Jun 14, 2012)

As much as I have a hard time with the "hippy-ish" feel to it. The advice I've gotten is to learn to be present. A lot of the Mindfullness Based Stress Reduction Techniques seem to be very helpful for a lot of people. 

I think if you are determined, to change your habits, I like something like CBT that might be helpful for retraining you from having the negative thoughts, into having more reasonable ones . (Not saying they are necessarily always positive but more... practical? and probably more positive than you have in the beginning).


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## Bawsome (Jan 8, 2013)

awkwardsilent said:


> As much as I have a hard time with the "hippy-ish" feel to it. The advice I've gotten is to learn to be present. A lot of the Mindfullness Based Stress Reduction Techniques seem to be very helpful for a lot of people.
> 
> I think if you are determined, to change your habits, I like something like CBT that might be helpful for retraining you from having the negative thoughts, into having more reasonable ones . (Not saying they are necessarily always positive but more... practical? and probably more positive than you have in the beginning).


Yea i agree with awkwardsilent, being mindfull of your habitual thoughts and then using CBT to change them, catching yourself when you are being negative then finding an alternative way of looking at it. i have been on the negative side of the fence often. i can tell you from my own experiences that learning to be more positive is worth it.


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