Breaking the Negativity || Seeking the Positivity

What if we had a "Backspace" button with the words we speak? 

As I'm starting this post, I backspaced twenty thousand times because the words just weren't...right.

I was planning on writing an entirely different post, but something struck my heart and I'm going to go for it.

So, like I said, we don't have a "backspace button" for the words we say. Once they're said, they're said. So why is it that most the time, we're hardly even cautious with our words? We hurt and we tear down so easily without even a second thought sometimes? 

One thing I've noticed a lot lately is just how much negativity is out there. It seems like anywhere I go I see/hear people tearing down and there's not always a lot of building up going on. I've noticed how much negativity I have myself.

It is really easy and (unfortunately) natural to tear someone down. We are all imperfect people with flaws just radiating out all around us. So we notice those flaws and for some reason think it's perfectly okay for us to point those flaws out. It's not.

One of my resolutions for 2016 is to break the negativity. 

I hate how normal it has become for me to see the flaws in other people. I want to break that negativity. I want to demolish it completely. 

Going even farther than just "breaking the negativity" I want to be "seeking the positivity"

I want to seek the good in every individual no matter how weird that individual may seem to me. Because newsflash: They're still a child of God, and God values them as much as he values me.

I read this quote earlier that I thought was quite fitting: 

"Be careful with what you say. You say something hurtful in ten seconds, then ten years later, the words are still there" (Joel Osteen) 

Ya know, the tiniest little insults can actually hurt a whole lot. So I think it'd be a good idea to be more cautious of which words we're letting flow through our mouths. 

Philippians 4:8 "Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellent, if there is anything worthy of praise, THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS." (Emphasis my own) 

Fill yourself up with true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and praiseworthy thoughts, and that's exactly what you'll speak. It all starts when you make a choice to break the negativity. 

OK in closing, I have a challenge. A positivity challenge. 

Every time you think something negative and you want to let it out of your mouth, keep it in. But not only keep it in, but also, replace that negativity with something positive. Compliment that person. 

Mine was my resolution; something I want to work on all year. But set your own date, maybe even just for tomorrow. Learn to break the negativity and add to the positivity.