Ask Amy Poehler: 'How Do I Start Taking Positivity More Seriously Than Negativity?'

The advice dealt out by Amy Poehler in her Smart Girls at the Party Ask Amy series is meant for young girls, but this is a fact that we should all choose to ignore because Poehler’s counsel can be useful to all of us, regardless of age. In the first episode of 2013, a girl named Caity writes in to ask how to take in positive things about yourself when it’s so much easier to attach to the negative. Amy responds, “We often are so negative with ourselves. We talk about ourselves in ways that we would never talk about our friends or our family. We say the meanest things about ourselves out loud, on the internet, to our friends and in our head. And so sometimes what we need to do stop the tape of mean words that we say to ourselves first and give ourselves a break, be compassionate with ourselves.” She adds, “When someone gives you a compliment…try just saying ‘thank you.’ Period. It’s really hard to do…and not make an excuse. Just saying thank you (period) can help you accept that positivity…Accepting love is very hard, but it’s so nourishing when we do.”