Throughout the journey of life, you will run into many hurdles. Throughout the journey, you will encounter times of stress and pain. Even though these things are impossible to escape, you can limit how much they affect you. Here are 11 ways to keep your life more positive.

11. Try to look at things from the good side:

It may be hard sometimes, but you can take it one step at a time.

10. Keep yourself busy to keep yourself from overthinking:

A lot of the time, if you're feeling down and negative, that can lead to overthinking things. Seek out a distraction instead and practice some good old-fashioned escapism.

9. Pay it forward:

Making small, random acts of kindness can not only brighten your day, but brighten others too. Something small can have big rewards.

8. Get yourself some inspirational swag:

7. Make friends with an optimist:

Being around an optimist will make it really hard for you to find the bad in things.

6. Smile more:

Even when you don't want to, try it. Smiling can instantly brighten yourself.

5. Realize that things aren't always meant to be fair:

Pessimists often think that the world isn’t fair and act accordingly — aka, using that belief to fuel their negativity. Rather than attempting to change that belief — because hey, you’re right, the world isn’t fair. Use it as a source of positivity and take comfort in the impersonal hostility of the universe. Seriously, imagine how much worse it would be if life was fair, and terrible things happened to us because we actually deserved it.

4. Find a creative outlet for your negative energy:

If you’re hardwired to be a negative person, finding a way to channel your natural thoughts and feelings is super important. There are plenty of ways to do that: You can hate-watch a terrible TV show, turn your anger into some form of art, or even take up kickboxing, if that’s what it takes. Whatever you choose can help minimize your negativity and keep you from ruminating in bad vibes.

3. Allow negativity, but for short periods of time:

Quick: Don’t think about potatoes. Now, what are you thinking about? Potatoes, obviously. Same thing happens when you try to ignore your negative thoughts: the harder you push something out of your mind, the longer it stays with you. Sometimes it’s better to give yourself five to 10 minutes to feel shitty, so long as you’re willing to get up and do something after.

2. Make a list of things that don't totally suck:

Self-explanatory.

1. Stop dwelling on outcomes all together:

Sometimes focusing on an end goal can be really overwhelming. So instead of obsessing over a potential outcome, you should think about what you can do to actually get there.