When it comes to healthy living, our mental health is just as important as our physical health. If you are negative all the time you won’t be happy and eventually, you won’t be physically healthy either. Being negative often leads to depression or stress and it affects our capacity to enjoy life and have happy relationships. So here are some tips to remove negativity from your life.

• Refuse to have negative people in your life. These are people who tend to criticise you all the time, put you down or even are always complaining about things in their own life that they don’t like. It also includes backstabbers who lie about you to others or speak about you in a way that is slanderous or unfair. These people are not your friends and don’t deserve your time or effort.
• Get rid of your own negative thoughts. Many people suffer from thinking bad thoughts about themselves. Don’t let yourself think things that put you down or belittle yourself, your body, your actions or the things you do any longer. Every day when you wake up, look in the mirror and say 5 good things about yourself. Do the same thing throughout the day.

• Make it a practice to think happy thoughts about other people and even about your own life. Find something great about every day and say it out loud. It’s a sunny day, a refreshing breeze or whatever you can think of. Living in the moment and taking note of it trains your brain to be healthier and your mind to think positively.
• Write down your frustrations – then find something you can do about them and write that down too. Sometimes just the act of writing it is enough to relieve that pent-up feeling of stress. Once you’ve written it down, throw it in the bin.
• Breathe deeply. This will fill your body with oxygen and you’ll feel much happier and more relaxed. Exercising has the same effect.
• If you have bad moods, try and work out why. Is there a trigger food you may be eating? Menstrual tension can cause them. Eating watermelons and rockmelons a few days before the ‘due date’ can help alleviate this problem.
• Get a purpose in your life. Living life in a way that fulfils your goals and purposes makes you much happier and reduces negativity.  Job satisfaction is another aid to staying happy and fulfilled. Studies indicate it is more important than remuneration.

• Finally, help someone. Even if you are feeling really negative, volunteering to help others can turn it around. You’ll realise that you are not the only one to have problems and many people are much worse off. That will leave you feeling thankful rather than negative.