The good vibes of negativity

By Captain Mahmood Al Mahmood

If there is one thing the COVID-19 pandemic taught us, it is the power of the negative.

Suddenly, turning ‘positive’ was not such a good thing and showing ‘negative’ meant a clean bill of health.

People everywhere started fervently hoping for a negative result and invested time and energy to make it happen.

Now we are in the dawn of a New Year and we need to ponder – how do we take forward this new-found knowledge in the good use of the ‘negative’? If you look at it closely, there are many situations where losing something or going negative is good for us – losing weight, that eternal topper in new year resolution lists, is one such good negative, provided we do so sensibly and do not make a fetish of it, do it more for fitness and health than for fashion.

When asked for weight loss advice, experts tell us that the best tip is to eat in small portions and the best exercise is not skipping rope or running but a simple shake of the head in a ‘no thanks’ when offered unnecessary or unwise food.

Next to weight loss, the one lament that people have is that they have too little time to fulfil their dreams.

Here too, a little negativity goes a long way.

Draw up a list of your aspirations and goals for 2022 and maybe a five-year plan.

Next, draw up a list of activities that you do not enjoy but feel forced to participate in.

Like that carousel of meaningless parties where you meet the same people and run through the same conversations.

Those projects you find yourself volunteering for which do not resonate with you but which you do to please your boss’s mother or somebody far up in the order.

 Learn to pare down your life.

Saying no is a difficult art because every time somebody asks us for help, we feel important and it strokes our ego.

We are afraid that if we say no too often, people will stop asking us for our time and our ideas and we will become irrelevant.

But saying no adds a healthy dose of ‘good negativity’ to our lives and we can then reclaim our energy and time to invest in a meaningful life.

So be brave – go ahead and say no.

You will find that 2022 becomes brighter if you do so.