Years ago when I lived in Tulsa, I walked out of the grocery store, minding my own business, when a TV reporter swooped in with a microphone and a cameraman in tow. Before I could say \u201cno comment,\u201d she was asking what I thought about all the new traffic in our area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, I hadn\u2019t exactly freshened my lipstick (because, of course, the one day you don\u2019t is the day you end up on the evening news). Still, I figured if they were looking for a \u201cnegative traffic drama\u201d soundbite, they picked the wrong gal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, the traffic had increased. But along with it came shiny new shopping centers, more restaurants than I could ever visit, and enough conveniences to make life easy. Plus, our home values shot up — mine doubled before I sold and moved to Frisco, Texas!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when the 10 p.m. news aired, there I was, smiling and positive, to the delight of my grandkids who were bouncing on the couch yelling, \u201cNana\u2019s on TV!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s the thing: negativity breeds negativity. If you want to stay positive in a negative world, you\u2019ve got to be intentional. Here\u2019s what works for me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Limit exposure to negativity.
That means news, social media rants, and yes, even people who treat gloom like a full-time job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Guard your inner circle.
I counsel people often and hear tough stories — but I also protect my own mindset by balancing my time with those who bring joy, hope, and laughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. Fill the air with praise.
Uplifting Christian music transforms my home, my car, and even my mood. One worship song can reroute my whole attitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Practice gratitude.
Thank God for green lights, short lines, and parking spaces near the door. Gratitude has a way of turning ordinary moments into joy-filled ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. Pray in the pauses.
Traffic jams and checkout lines become little appointments with God — the One who is never surprised by delays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Philippians 4:8 tells us to fix our thoughts on what\u2019s true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. And I\u2019ve found that when I focus there, I don\u2019t just survive in a negative world — I shine in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After all, the world has enough doom and gloom. Why not be the reason someone else smiles?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Years ago when I lived in Tulsa, I walked out of the grocery store, minding my own business, when a TV reporter swooped in with a microphone and a cameraman in tow. Before I could say \u201cno comment,\u201d she was asking what I thought about all the new traffic in our area. Now, I hadn\u2019t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1210,32355,1769,30151,38,39,40,41,1077,32357,32354,14882,32358,859,15281,32356,3146,88],"class_list":["post-22686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-blog","tag-cameraman","tag-christian","tag-drama","tag-gratitude","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-joy","tag-laughter","tag-limit-exposure","tag-lipstick","tag-negative-world","tag-philippian-48","tag-praise","tag-restaurant","tag-shopping-center","tag-staying-positive","tag-traffic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22686"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22694,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22686\/revisions\/22694"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}