Positivity playlist

There’s way too much negativity in the world. I recently found myself being sucked into such a
negative mind-set mostly due to social media, and only because I realised enough was enough and it wasn’t getting me anywhere did I decide to make an effort to break myself out of it. As humans, why do we always focus on the negative? Why are we so obsessed with sharing awful stories about all the bad things in the world, when there is actually so much good that we could be talking about?

I’m not naïve. I know that at the moment the world seems like a dark place, but the truth is that there has always been, and unfortunately probably will always be, terrible things happening. But our world is also an incredible, beautiful place and sometimes you need to take a step back and realise that.

Here’s a little analogy to try to explain what I’m talking about. I work at a shop and I serve countless customers every shift. 99% of these customers are pleasant, don’t cause any trouble and sometimes even make me smile with their nice comments. However, every once in a while an ignorant, rude customer comes along. After that one customer has upset me, I tend to remain annoyed for the rest of the day. When I get home, all I can think about is how rude that customer was to me, instead of dwelling on the other hundreds of customers who were polite, smiling and made me feel good. Why do we do that to ourselves? Why do I allow that one out of all those customers I served that day ruin my positive mood?

You see what I mean? We seem to have a tendency to focus on all the bad things that happen rather than the good things. Can you recall a positive news story you’ve read in the last few days? Weeks? Months? Yet wonderful things happen every day. Where’s the story about all the happy, healthy babies who were born today? Where’s the front page telling you about all the lives that were saved this week, all the loved ones who were cleared of cancer, all the little acts of kindness people committed? No, we just love negativity and fear-mongering too much. I know we cannot brush aside the issues and the suffering that is happening in the world, and it truly does get to me. But I am trying every day to focus on the positive things in life, even if it’s only something as small as how good my Costa Christmas drink tastes.

Music is also something which makes me feel happy and forget about the things that worry me, which is why I’m writing this post. I know I’ve gone on a bit of a detour, but I felt that I needed an introduction into why I’ve made this playlist. I have put together the songs that make me feel the most happy and positive, and hopefully they’ll bring you a bit of positivity too as I think a lot of us need it at the moment.

• Hall of Fame – The Script
From the first few words of this song ‘you can be the greatest, you can be the best’, I already feel so empowered. This song literally makes me feel like I can do anything, no matter how cliché that sounds.

• Break Free – Ariana Grande
Ariana aka the queen of powerful, sassy songs. This song is all about ditching a guy who’s no good for you and being confident enough to say you know what, I’ll be okay without you. You go girl!

• Right Place Right Time – Olly Murs
Just thinking about this song is giving me goosebumps right now, I love it that much. It’s such a feel good song and makes me smile – ‘right here and now feels like forever, never touch the ground when we’re together’ – it’s just a really sweet song about living in the moment and having someone special by your side to experience it with.

• Don’t You Worry Child – Swedish House Mafia
Even though this song kind of reminds me of nights out and sweaty nightclubs, I really love its message. I really love the concept of ‘don’t you worry child, see heaven’s got a plan for you’, it reinforces my belief that everything happens for a reason and even if things don’t seem to be going your way, eventually everything will work out.

• Firework – Katy Perry
It’s impossible not to feel positive when you listen to this absolute belter of a song. I dare you.

• Strong – One Direction
Ah, you didn’t think I could make a playlist without at least one One Direction song, did you? This song brings back so many happy memories for me and it might sound cringey but I feel like it represents my love for this band and how they’ve been there for me through everything over the past five years and yes this is sounding so cheesy, I’d better stop.

• The Nights – Avicii
I was reminded of this song when I heard it on the radio while driving to work the other day and I remembered how much I loved it. It just has a really uplifting message that you should just live however you want to because we aren’t here forever and we have to make the most of every day.

• Express Yourself – Labrinth 
This song makes me so happy, it’s all about being comfortable in your own skin and being yourself, not comparing yourself to others and just embracing who you are.

• It’s My Party – Jessie J
I feel so sassy when I’m listening to this song, it’s like hell yeah I’ll do whatever I want and nobody can stop me and I don’t care what anyone thinks! YEAH!

• This Must Be My Dream – The 1975
This isn’t a really upbeat song like all the others, but it’s one of my favourites off The 1975’s latest album and makes me feel all mellow, chilled out and happy.

• Here’s To Never Growing Up – Avril Lavigne
As you probably already know, Avril Lavigne was my childhood idol. This song is all about, you guessed it, never growing up, staying young and having fun.

• Good Time – Owl City Feat. Carly Rae Jepsen
I was totally obsessed with this song when it first came out and to be honest it’s still such a jam. It’s just so upbeat and happy and makes you feel like everything is right with the world.

• I’m OK – Olly Murs
This song makes me so, so happy! Not only is it really uplifting, it also brings back so many good memories for me of seeing it live and just being so happy in those moments.

• Hair – Little Mix
Another badass song from Little Mix. This song is so empowering, much like most of their songs, and like Ariana’s earlier, it’s all about leaving a boy who’s no good for you behind and believing that you’ll be fine on your own, and so much better off without him.

• Mountains – Lawson
‘We can move mountains, mountains, we can make change, walk through fire, heal the world’s pain’ – these lyrics literally say it all, such a positive song that again makes me feel like I can do anything.

• Sliding Doors – Olly Murs
This song is all about making a new start, taking a risk and just going for it. ‘when we’re leaving, we won’t look back any more’ – it’s all about exploring new possibilities, grabbing opportunities and not looking back.

• Happily – One Direction
My favourite people make an appearance once again. Are you really surprised? As I realise I’ve been saying about most of these songs, this one is so uplifting and just makes me want to dance around when I hear it, as well as bringing back loads of amazing memories.

• Part Of Me – Katy Perry
Another sassy Katy Perry song that makes me feel like I can do whatever the hell I want and nobody will stop me. You can say whatever you want about me, but I’m doing my thing and I feel good about it so your words won’t hurt me anymore.

• Through The Dark – One Direction
Ah, if you know me or have read my previous posts, you will already know the deep love I have for this song. It’s probably my favourite song of all time. It just makes me feel so happy no matter what. If I’m in a bad mood or feel a bit down I’ll listen to this song and it immediately makes me feel better. ‘We will find a way through the dark’, no matter how bad it seems, there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel.

• Wings – Little Mix
I just had to include another Little Mix song, the queens of sass. This song has a similar theme to many of the songs I’ve included here, but it’s such an amazing message – that it doesn’t matter who tries to bring you down, you’re above them and shouldn’t care about what they say.

• Feelin’ Alive – Jonas Brothers
If you know me you’ll also know how obsessed I was with the Jonas Brothers, and this song just screams positivity all the way through. It makes me so happy and reminds me of great memories.

• I’ll Be OK – McFly 
I thought this song was the perfect end to my playlist, as it sums up the positive attitude I’m trying to put across through these songs. No matter how hard things get, how negative everything seems, you’ll get through it and you’ll be okay.

I hope you enjoyed my playlist, you can listen to it here https://open.spotify.com/user/clarelxuise/playlist/0EWWIlbrM38iMlEWeuFuhe if you want to!

To leave you on an even more positive note, I just want to share with you a quote that I found the other day which really changed my thinking, and sums up what I was trying to say at the start of this post, that even though things might seem negative, there are also amazing things happening every day that deserve attention too.

‘Each day the world turns and the sun rises, babies are born and the elderly pass, children grow and adults learn, books are written and songs are sung, countries unite and nations fight, people suffer and people recover – so to think that today’s troubles are permanent is a sign that you are not aware of just how ever-changing our lives actually are, and just how incredible this existence is.’

What songs always make you happy? Did my playlist make you feel more positive? I’d love to hear what you thought, and any comments would be much appreciated, I love hearing what you guys have to say! Once again thank you so much for reading. x