treat everything as if it is an adventure
I do a lot of silly stuff to maintain my mental health, but positive thinking is definitely what I take to the most extreme. For me, positive thinking isn't just having an optimistic outlook on life but rather treating every bad situation comically positively. This manifests in my 'adventures' where things that I could get really upset about just become another whimsical part of my storied journey through life, learning how the world works.
Struck in traffic? Traffic adventure! Turn the music up, time to continue to practice remaining alert while driving in slow traffic. Spilled something? Cleaning adventure! Get out the rag and swab the deck, it's always good to keep up on cleaning. Code not doing what it's supposed to? Coding adventure! Redo that line a few more times because we're learning something new every time.
It's over the top and almost never true; getting lost while driving somewhere important is objectivity not fun, neither is burning your dinner, or overpaying for something you shouldn't have. All of these fucking suck and are annoying to deal with, but for me, repositioning them as a learning moment, or an 'adventure' help's me control my anxiety during the important moments right after the bad thing happens and stop the spiral.
Of course it's ok to experience and feel the emotions that come naturally when something bad happens when you need to, but for the small annoying stuff in my life that I can hardly control, I go on adventures!
