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thoughts and emotions, and as a result we may begin to experience mood swings, emotional regulation difficulties, and serious judgment and reasoning errors, which can have even more negative affects than the original problem we were experiencing (Deveney & Pizzagalli, 2008). The first and most important way to stay positive and centered is to maintain a grateful perspective. No matter how hard the times may be we are going through, there is always something that we can and are grateful for, but we tend to forget or lose sight of them under pressure. One way to do this is to write down 3 things you wish weren't happening in your life right now. Then write down 3 things that you wish you could do right now. Keep a journal of each day's entries. Before you know it, your answers will probably be more positive than you realize and you can gauge your own success. Also, every day list those things that you are grateful for (friends, family, results etc.) and read them each day. This simple exercise will help you stay focused on the important and positive things and steer your focus away from the negative.

Next, pay close attention to the thoughts going through your head and challenge them. We all have those negative tapes looping around in our brains, but if you listen carefully, you can stop yourself, challenge them and replace them with new and positive tapes. As you continue to replace them and experience positive emotions, you will begin to retrain your brain and reinforce the new positive thought process. If you practice this process, you will experience great freedom from the chains of negative thoughts and begin to experience new and positive change as a result.

References

1. Ashby, F. G., Isen, A. M., & Turken, A. U. (1999). A neurophysiological theory of positive affect and its influence on cognition. Psychological Review, 106, 529550

2. Carver, C. S. (2001). Affect and the functional bases of behavior: On the dimensional structure of affective experience. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, 345356.

3 . Clore, G.L., Ortony, A. (1999). Cognitive Neuroscience of Emotion. pp 241-61. New York City: Oxford Press

4. CM Deveney, C.M., Pizzagalli, D.A.(2008). The cognitive consequences of emotion regulation: An ERP investigtion. Psychophysiology, 45(3), 435-444

5. Izard, C. (1992). Basic emotions, relations among emotions, and emotion-cognition relations. Psychological Review, 99, 561564

6. Sternberg, R. J. (2006). Cognitive psychology (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

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