The UpSide of Being Down
by Joy L. Watson

It's About Your Attitude
Tens of millions of people are trapped in a downward spiral of depression, anger, bitterness, and reactivity. Personal negativity has grown to such proportions it can now be considered an attitudinal addiction. Since cognition and attitude have become widely recognized as critical factors underlying health, this pervasive bad attitude clearly undermines our personal and collective health. Lives are cut short, careers are stunted, and relationships wither, because of negativity.
But there is an upside to the attitude trap. By using the right tools, anyone can find a way out, and experience more vitality and happiness than ever seemed possible.
The Up Side of Being Down is a simple guide for healing your personal forms of negativity. The book offers a look at a painful condition that has become as pervasive as Prozac, and as insidious as toxic waste. Each one of us has own degree of personal negativity. The recommendations in this book will help you identify, accept, and heal dysfunctional attitudinal conditions, using a self-guided approach called Mind Fitness.
Mind Fitness, like physical fitness, is a lifestyle that leads to better health and greater fulfillment. Instead of barbells and running shoes, Mind Fitness applies the tools of relaxation, proactive reflection and whole-brain learning to create a mental and emotional fitness that promotes full potential and well-being.
The Mind Fitness approach embraces the principles of attitudinal psychology, offering solutions for the problems of human health and well-being. The challenge of facing our own negativity -- both personally and collectively -- plays a large part in the beginning of this new millennium. Mind Fitness is a timely and far-reaching approach to help us do just that.
How Can I Know If This Book Is For Me?
Do you sometimes feel like someone who...
  • feels generally discontented and irritated
  • has bouts of depression filled with frustration
  • too often takes a defensive position toward things
  • makes cynical or biting remarks
  • finds it difficult to embrace new ideas or changes
  • often feels stressed or angry
  • exhibits inappropriate reactionary responses
  • is fearful of what will happen in the future
  • generally exhibits low energy and critical attitudes?
    • If you want to...
  • nurture a warmer, more confident and generous relationship with yourself
  • enhance the quality of your relationships with loved ones, friends, and co-workers
  • enjoy a greater sense of accomplishment in your work, community, and creative lives
  • live more optimally in any area on which you focus your mental thoughts: health, education, sports, prosperity, arts, love, relationships...
    • Then, this book is for you.
    In Up Side of Being Down we explore a very common problem -- negative attitudes -- how they affect our lives, and what we can do about them. Through identification and acceptance of our own forms of personal negativity, our focus shifts from external events to internal causes. This book shows how to begin replace automatic thinking patterns with more self-directed and empowered choices. The Mind Fitness program, upon which this book is based, helps guides our daily mental care, with a focus on optimal health and well-being.
    The author comments, "For some people these techniques seem like prayer sessions; for others, meditation and contemplation, or active imaging and focusing. Mind Fitness sessions are gifts you give yourself -- you decide how best to spend that quiet focused time. These are special times that are yours alone, allowing you to deepen your relationship with yourself."