i'd like to put some of my perspective into the ideal situation: rather than thinking about "negative" things; think about difficult things.
difficult experiences are the types of experiences that have potential for overcoming the impossible; but they are not "bad" just difficult. in fact when you get an organic difficult experinece and you overcome it; it has great potential for personal growth and becoming a posative experience. integration is one of the most important factors for turning the difficult into something useful or posatively affecting.
instead maybe think of overcoming impossible odds; maybe read a book or something about overcoming depression or abuse or war or survival pre-trip. IMO the point shouldn't be to think about the negative but rather a challange, difficulty, or struggle. those things aren't "bad" but they are obstacles. i do think you might have went at this a little wrong in a way. i think you're on the right track though.
i'd reccomend reading "a child called it" as well as all the other books in the series like "the lost boy" and "a man named dave". it's the experience of Dave Pendell; who underwent the worst case of child abuse in the history of california; his mother took basically everything from him and he had to take years of his life to recover from the horrific ordeal of playing "games" with his mother; which were nothing more than senseless torture.
but it goes farther than just random negativity; it's a story about the human spirit and how you can overcome anything. dave overcame being stabbed, locked in a bathroom with chlorox and water (i think; it created a toxic chemical that seriously hurt his lungs and could have been fatal), being forced to sit in cold water for hours and then put outside in a specific position designed for discomfort while his family ate, he had a father and mother who was an alcoholic and his father barely cared to stop the terrible abuse his mother inflicted; even when he was stabbed at a young age his father barely cared to stop reading his newpaper and sipping his whisky, he was almost forced to sit ontop of a lit stove and not only was there SEVERE physical abuse there was also horrible mental, emotional, and psychological abuse; such as his head being slammed into a glass mirror while his mother would call him ugly and tell him that he was a bad boy. not only that but when some kids found out about what he was going through; one bully told him to go kill himself.
dave had to fight nearly alone until foster care took him into a safer home. he had to go from home to home; constantly adjusting. he started stealing compulsively and would get into a lot of trouble over it even though it was mainly because of a psychological impulse and acting out. he even became afraid to raise his own son because he was scared he'd become an abuser himself.
try something like this; a survival story: whether it's about abuse or being stranded into the wild or surviving war; that might be more beneficial to read and focus on while tripping than simply manifesting something negative.
hope my thoughts bring some enlightenment and wisdom to the table and maybe shed a different light on this topic.
but i think this is a good topic to talk about; but not just that -- i think a broader category to title your post would be "reflecting on the crisis situation" or "learning from difficult experiences and stories" or something; just some thoughts
