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large person walks by or yells obscenities at someone who cuts them off in traffic they should think about who that person may be instead of making a crude judgement on outward appearance.

2. AVOID ACTING NEGATIVITY

Avoid talking about people in a negative manner. Try to avoid people who do so and if being near them is unavoidable (gossip at work, family member), simply do not partake in it. For example, a co-worker may feel the need to let you know how unflattering another co-worker looks in what they are wearing. You can respond by saying what that person may look good in. Also avoid complaining. As much as you may not like what's going on around you, it's probably just as unpleasant for the other party to hear about it. Offering a suggestion to correct the source of your discontent is a more positive and mature way to handle the situation.

I reigned as the queen of malicious comments on the 11th floor of my building at work. In the midst of one of my brutal critiques, a co-worker came up to me and said, "you know, I bet you can't go one day without saying something negative". I laughed him off and went about my business but attempted it the next day. I failed miserably. It's much harder that it seems and I didn't realize how negative I was until I actually tried to stop doing it. I then took it a step further and replaced my negative comments and actions with positive ones. People appreciated my willingness to help out positive attitude more than my snide comments. It wasn't an instant change, trust me. It took months for me to get into a positive frame of mind and once I did, it was much easier to tune out the rest of the negativity around me.

3. THINK BEFORE YOU ACT

Countless times I've heard people wish they can take something they've said or done back. This is mainly because they didn't think about the consequences of their actions before they said or did something. When a potentially upsetting situation occurs, avoid your inital reaction and excuse yourself from the situation. Think about all avenues of approach that could be taken and their consequences. Doing this gives you an opportunity to remove yourself from anything that could further aggravate your mood and let's you cool down. Once you've established a course of action for yourself, re-approach the situation (if necessary) with a clear head and stable train of thought. Although a reckless approach would seem more gratifying at the time, you will see that taking a more positive course of action

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