I have been thinking about the cycle of negativity that ensnares during a depressive period and what I could do to reduce it. Another blogpost came to mind, this time about Alina Adams' New Year's resolution on kveller.com and how she was seeking this year to follow the advice given to her daughter's first grade class:

"Don't yuck someone else's yum."

In the case of her daughter the rule is regarding the varying diets of her multicultural class and their subsequent variety of lunchbox foods, don't say "yuck!" to what someone else considers a delicacy, a treat or a staple of their diet.

The author mentioned how she thought this was a good rule for life and I quite agree. She had been struggling with getting caught up in arguments firstly on social media, and then in conversation, being the 'no' to someone's 'yes' and feeling she had to always correct others.

There are certainly times when playing devil's advocate is the right path to take, but how often do we throw negative talk at the trivial, someone else's excitement over an activity or movie or book or venue, a something that they clearly enjoy?

I know in my own life I "yuck" my husband's "yums" - his choice of shirt, aftershave, take away - a constant stream of unnecessary negativity which hardly adds to the joy of our relationship. I also have that bad habit of commenting on complete strangers' hairstyles and clothes, about the state of the roads, the weather, the latest advertisements, celebrities - a never-ending stream of "yucks" and they hardly add to the joy of my existence.

So why not join Alina and myself and today try and not yuck someone else's yum and let's all try to lessen the negativity that surrounds us and those we love.

Grainne

A Moodscope user.