We’ve all noticed when someone, in life or in the movies, is being overly dramatic. When we catch it, it can be funny, ridiculous, or downright annoying. But sometimes these “actors” are really good and we don’t pay attention to the fact that they are being over-dramatic as much as we pay attention to their pain. Sometimes the actor is us. When we are the ones experiencing drama, we can be so caught up in the dizzying thoughts and emotions we can’t see a way out. We need to show ourselves compassion and empathy.
Here are 16 ways to reduce the drama in your life:
- Take a holiday from any form of the news; the media invokes sensationalism in order to evoke a high response within the viewer in order to hook them, and it also can feed a need within us to see others having a tougher time than us, so we don’t feel as miserable as we could be. Don’t turn on the television. Better yet, unplug it, put it in storage, or even sell it.
- Keep your activity during your computer time to only what brings you joy: don’t click on tempting thumbnails or hyperlinks that will set you on a trail of chasing hopefulness, or despair.
- Stay off of social media during your self-proclaimed news-holiday; comparing our lives to the lives of others is never a healthy undertaking.
- Advertising is another thing that can create a feeling of urgency and drama in life. Advertisers try to push the buttons inside us that make us want what they have; try taking a sabbatical from advertising as well, and remain confident in what you do want. Even a contemplation of the two words ‘simplicity’ and ‘consumerism’ is enlightening.
- Review your forms of entertainment and give them a freshening up; take a look at the books you reach for, magazines you subscribe to, or buy at the check-out lane. Television shows you’ve viewed recently, your movie choices, web-surfing tendencies, get-together chums; see what needs releasing in your life in order to reduce drama and bring upliftment.
- Stop making gossip a form of entertainment; don’t gossip about the latest stories (world news or personal news) with your peeps.
- Schedule your entertainment times around positive activities: a positive Ted-Talk video, a new park you want to explore, a Meet-Up group you think would be interesting, visiting a pet store just to see the happy puppies falling all over themselves with joy and eagerness. The list is endless really.
- Change how you feed your mind; have a few quotes from other people handy, quotes from those who have been through this process and succeeded, or quotes that affirm that it can be done, or that express the positive mentality you wish to have.
- Put yourself in a positivity time-out; when you notice a negative thought, force yourself to stop what you’re doing and find a positive thought before you continue with your day.
- Tell your support network (family, friends, beloved) to say a funny code word that is intended to mean “you’re getting sucked into the drama and you need to pivot!” Some ideas are unicorn, puppy, pumpkin, succotash. You can think of one that makes you smile.
- Create a lidded jar that you use to write down the negative things in your life. The things that create pain or drama. When they come into your head, write them down, and put them in the jar. Then if they come into your head again, say to the invasive thought, “Nope, you’re not allowed here; I already put you in the jar.”
- For every one dramatic thing, you bump into during your day, find and focus on three positive topics your mind and spirit can enjoy. Make it an intention to seek out and notice things that bring you joy and beauty. Literally, go on a quest to find positive things.
- Keep a running gratitude journal. This trains the mind to look for positive things in life. Not the things not going well that one could get dramatic about.
- Find a noble cause to support to avoid filling your time with drama. The act of giving of yourself to a cause (not one specific person, by the way) brings things into perspective. It keeps the focus off of what may not be going well in your life at the moment.
- Create a mantra to say to yourself to rewire your mind and cells. For example, it can be something like, “I choose peace in my life, and all aspects of my life appreciate smooth-sailing and harmony.”
- Lastly, practice doing the Gratitude Gesture at least 10 times each day. This helps to re-wire your habits and the tendencies you lean towards.
If you feel that the source of the drama in your life is coming from someone else and not in your control, and you’d like ideas of how to handle such a situation, CLICK HERE.
When we choose to reduce the drama in our lives we grow very clear that this truly is a choice. Until we take the initiative to change this aspect of our inner emotional landscape, we are tolerating the drama in our lives. We always stand at choice in any given moment to move towards something or away from it. If we take the time to look at it objectively, to note the emotional value it brings to our life (positively or negatively), then we can make wiser choices about how to deal with it. It is our right and privilege to choose how we want to feel and the people and activities we want in our lives.
In conclusion, keep on track with your new intention of eliminating drama and living a more peaceful life. Refer to these suggestions whenever you feel the need for inspiration, and share with others who could use some uplifting. The world needs more upliftment and you could become an uplifter.
Other posts that might interest you:
9 Powerful Mantras To Achieve Inner Strength
The Habit You May Not Realize You Have
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