Negative emotions don’t feel good. That’s kind of the point, because we have negative emotions to tell us that something is wrong, and to alert us to our need to protect ourselves, grieve, or change our situation in some way. But they feel bad, and so there’s often a temptation to suppress them.
Toxic positivity
Toxic positivity is when people tell themselves that they aren’t really feeling bad, or that only positive vibes are allowed. These are the kind of people who post positive memes on Instagram or Facebook, while secretly feeling terrible.
It’s toxic when we tell ourselves that we should always ‘be positive’ because the feelings don’t go away because we’re denying them. Instead they build up underneath, ready to come squirting out at a later date or time.
It’s also toxic when we tell other people to ‘cheer up’, ‘look on the bright side’ ‘ think of someone worse off than yourself’ because that tells people that they won’t be accepted if they show the world anything but positivity.
All this does, in the memorable phrase of an excellent counsellor I know is to pour pink icing on top of sh*t.
Toxic negativity
On the other hand, toxic negativity can also be harmful, where we always expect the worst and see ourselves as victims of circumstances. I’m not talking about even a prolonged period of depression or grief, which may be something that we all have to go through at times, but about a generally negative outlook on life, which can create an unhealthy balance and make us difficult to be around. It can also lead to us subconscously setting ourselves up for failure, because that’s what paradoxically feels more comfortable.
Finding the middle ground
So, what’s the middle ground? Firstly, I think we need to recognise that we won’t always feel good, and that, as business owners, we may face setbacks and challenges. We may lose a client, or be criticised publicly on social media, or have a ‘failed’ launch. When we feel bad, we need to acknowledge that, and look after ourselves as tenderly as we can. We can see our negative emotions as a signal that we need love, self-love most importantly.
When we truly listen to our negative emotions, they quite often (if not always) dissipate, having achieved what they were created for.
However, listening to our emotions is not the same thing as identifying with them. Once we start to tell ourselves stories about how ‘this always happens to me’, ‘there’s something wrong with me’, ‘things will always feel like this’ and so on, then we’re moving away from a healthy processing of emotion into creating more pain for ourselves.
The key is to listen to the emotion, but not attach to it. You are not your thoughts and you’re not your emotions either.
**************
If you’re an ELT freelancer/business owner you may feel a bit overwhelmed by all the business advice out there…
Should you start a podcast or a YouTube channel, a mailing list, a membership? Is it a good idea to keep things as simple as possible, or should you be looking to diversify? What does scaling even mean, anyway?!
Would you like some clear step by step advice tailored to your stage of business?
Look no further. Click the image to answer six simple questions and I’ll send you a detailed PDF game plan for your next steps.
