5 days a challenge doth not make. A REAL Positivity Challenge.

If you are on Facebook, then you know there is this Positivity Challenge circulating around.

I got nominated for it about a week ago, and I haven’t done anything about it yet.

Because I’ve been thinking.

The rules of the challenge are to post three positive things and nominate three other people to do the same, each day, for five days.

I’m a little bit annoyed by this challenge.

Because it’s not really a challenge.

Be a little bit positive for five days?

Really?

That’s not even a whole week.

How challenging is that?

In addition to the non-challenging aspect of the Positivity “Challenge”, I’m not a fan of the guilting-other-people-into-doing-this, aspect of the challenge.

Because if you really want to affect change (and five days of  pretending to be positive isn’t really going to change anyone) you can’t force someone else to do it.

I had a therapist once who explained to me, after I had repeatedly complained about the behavior of a member of my family and my frustration with the fact that this person just wasn’t getting it, that I could try as hard as I wanted…

But I couldn’t make this person change.

There was something I could do, though.

I could lead by example.

I could model the behavior, and if I worked hard to do that, it might just rub off.

So like I said before, I’ve been thinking about this Positivity “Challenge.”

We are just coming off of summer.

If you are on Facebook, then you have seen lots of pictures of vacations and days at the beach and trips to water parks and other fun things.

And there are hundreds of positive posts regarding those experiences.

But how hard is it to be positive when you’ve just had the

Best. Day. Ever?

It’s not hard.

What would be challenging though, would be to be positive every day.

Not for five days.

Or a week.

Or a month.

But for a whole year.

Every day.

Even on those days that are not the

Best. Day. Ever.

I don’t know why it’s easier to complain.

But it is.

I certainly have my own issues in this department.

But you know what?

Complaining sucks.

It might be easier because that’s what we are used to doing, but it really isn’t fun.

It’s tiring.

It just fans the fire of being pissed off.

There is no laughing in complaining.

And if there is one thing I like to do more than anything in the world, it’s laugh.

It’s hard to do that when you are being negative.

Sure, changing that old behavior is hard.

And if you’ve been doing it for a lifetime, five days just isn’t going to get the job done.

My current therapist explained behaviors to me as grooves in your brain.

The longer you’ve been doing them, the deeper the grooves are.

You can make new grooves in your brain for new behaviors.

Just like digging in the dirt, the more you dig, the deeper the grooves get.

Digging is definitely hard work.

It takes perseverance to make a dent.

But there is a payoff.

When you dig a new groove in your brain, that stuff you dig out fills in those old grooves until, eventually,

they disappear.

So…

I said before I’ve been thinking about this Positivity “Challenge.”

I’d like to revise it.

Here is my new and improved Positivity Challenge.

Post at least one positive thing on Facebook.

If you aren’t on Facebook, write it in a journal.

Or the blackboard in the kitchen for your family to see.

Do that every day.

For a year.

Imagine how deep a groove you can dig!

Want to encourage other people to do the same?

Don’t try to guilt them into it.

Lead by example.

Be the Pied Piper of Positivity.

Don’t be the negative person that people hide from their feed.

Be the positive one that people seek out and follow.

Start digging that new groove today.