Accentuate The Positive
"Dwelling on the negative simply contributes to its power" — Shirley Maclaine
"Avoid destructive thinking. Improper negative thoughts sink people. A ship can sail around the world many, many times, but just let enough water get into the ship and it will sink. Just so with the human mind. Let enough negative thoughts or improper thoughts get into the human mind and the person sinks just like a ship." — Alfred A Montapert
"Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation." — Michael Jordan
Today I’m up for the “inspirational” post for the 70 Days of Sweat challenge. Honestly, at first I wasn’t sure what to write about. But over the last couple of days, I’ve realized something. We all encounter negative situations and negative people. But we don’t have to put up with it. We can fight back.
Want an example? Well, my very first single-title (written with Stephanie Tyler) releases in two days. It’s a book that came as a direct result of a negative situation.
Two years ago, hurricane Katrina kicked my family’s butts. We lost everything, and are still dealing with the aftermath, including a destroyed house we’re still making payments on. But in the midst of it all, Stephanie started writing a story about a hero who attracts hurricanes. She wasn’t able to move past the first scene, and eventually, she sent it to me with instructions: Finish the chapter.
I did. Together we finished the book and sold it, and two others, to Bantam Dell.
We turned what had been a horrific ordeal into something good, because without Katrina, Riding The Storm never would have been written. And the really weird thing?
Riding The Storm releases EXACTLY two years to the day that I evacuated for Katrina. How’s that for fate?
And okay, that’s an extreme example of how to turn negative energy into positive energy. We can’t all have a hurricane kick our asses to get us into gear. So what do you do when you’ve hit snags in your manuscripts and are kicking yourself for not being able to move forward? Or you’ve received bad reviews and now you’re in a tailspin. Or life just gets in the way of your writing and you feel guilty for not doing enough.
Well, I’ve composed a list of things that help me, and I’m hoping you’ll add to it. Here’s what I have:
1. Read a book.
2. Pray
3. Watch a movie
4. Spend a day out of the house with the family
5. Play “what if” with your manuscript if you’re blocked
6. Smile (I know that sounds crazy, but scientists say it works)
7. Exercise
8. Nap (I always find that napping helps me work out problems in my manuscripts)
9. Remember that everything happens for a reason
What helps you? And don’t forget to go leave your weekly page/word count at Sven’s blog for a chance to win this week’s prize – lots of goodies including books from the sponsors!
and will often read through the ones I’ve collected if I’m going through a bad spell. 
