Filtering out the Positive: Another Thinking Error

So how else can we make our thinking more positive? What else can we do to bring peace into our lives? What other thinking errors can we rid out minds of to make positive thinking prevail in our lives. This is a pretty popular thinking error:
Filtering out the positive in order to point out the negative.

This is an easy one to participate in. I know I have done this one a lot. It goes hand in hand with many of the other thinking errors, but let's focus specifically on this one.

A good example would be my husband's thinking toward being in school. I hope he doesn't mind me using him as an example. (He has actually worked really hard on this one and is doing MUCH better, but it's the best illustration that comes to mind.) He totally does not want to be in college (once again) right now, but because of good choices he has made that's where life has taken him at this point. He thinks about all the bad things about being in school: how it takes all of his time, how he doesn't have free time to do the things he wants to do, how he doesn't have time to spend with me as much as he would like, how he has to do school work from dawn until dusk, etc, etc. What has been filtered out is that his schooling is being payed for, it will allow him to get promotions quickly - more money to save for retirement and do to do fun things, how that after only a year in school he will have all that free time back and a guaranteed job to go along with it, not to mention a wealth of knowledge.

It usually only takes one negative thought, and then a whole chain reaction of negative thoughts arise and build on each other so that nothing positive is visible. The key is recognition of that first negative thought before we are blindsided. Once awareness takes place then we can start to think about the positive things of the situation and more positive thinking will arise. Sometimes, we may have to work hard to begin finding the positive, but all successful people are able to find good in any circumstance. It just takes some effort and we find more peace starting to fill our lives.