5 Ways To Lead A More Positive Life

Lotus Bud (Phra Borom Maha Ratcha Wang, Bankok, Thailand)

Remaining optimistic through this relatively negative and evil world can be a daunting task at best. We all struggle with it everyday. Some give in and some fight. I prefer to fight. It’s heartbreaking to see how backwards and negative the world we live in has become. I’m not going to blame the “media” or the internet, television and movies, video games or social media because they aren’t all at fault. We are. We are the ones who create it and let it continue to happen. Those things are, however, a vehicle for the pessimism and negativity to breed and spread at an alarming rate. Everyone knows the old adage “the bad outweighs the good”. Why? Why does it have to be that way? It doesn’t. We can change that but it isn’t going to be easy, nor will it happen as quickly as we would hope. The key is to change it within yourself and those around you will follow; those around them will as well, so on and so forth. If you maintain a positive attitude you will attract positive people and outcomes.

I am not suggesting that this is the cure all fix all; it’s more like a list of things that I do to make my thinking more positive. It may not work for every person but it has changed my life but more importantly, maybe you will read something that you can relate to.

1. Start Your Day in a Positive Way.

First thing in the morning, the second you wake up, be thankful for something in your life. Give homage to your comfy bed, or the fact that you even have one. Be thankful for the clothes you have and the roof over your head. Be thankful for your friends and family. While you are eating breakfast (you should eat breakfast, seriously. I’m not a doctor but eating breakfast is the best thing you can do for your body), be thankful for the food you have. Think about someone in your life that makes you smile and text them “good morning :)” You’d be amazed at how powerful a little thing like that can be. You’ll brighten their day; and in turn yours will as well.

If you workout, do so in the morning. Working out in the morning gives you energy all day, and with energy you’ll feel happy, focused and positive about the world around you.

Smile. Smile a lot. Life is amazing!!

2. Surround Yourself With Positive People

Try to spend more time with happy and positive people and less with the pessimistic or negative ones. This also means, staying off of social media as much as possible. Another thing to do (a little trick I learned from Tony Medellin) is when you see a negative, violent or ignorant post, unfollow that person. There is ZERO reason for that kind of nonsense to be spread around. The more people that do that the less likely it will show up on other peoples “walls” thus stopping the spread of negativity. If you are older (like myself) spend some time with younger people. It’s amazing how different a 20something views the world in comparison to a 30something. A lot of times they just aren’t so jaded and they still have that sparkle, that look of wonderment because life hasn’t really body slammed them just yet.

Stay away from negative people as much as possible. We all have that friend that is a “Negative Nancy”. I’m not suggesting that you write that person off but try to spend less time with them. Positive people will not judge or “hate on” you. They will support you and give you positive encouragement thought the good and the bad. Smile. Smile a lot. Life is amazing!! Tons of studies have shown what the power of a smile can do. I’m actually smiling right now just because I am writing this….you probably are now as well!

Admire the brilliance of architecture or wonder at how an airplane can fly through the sky. Bring some happiness into your life.

Conversely, if you have a friend that seems to be constantly in a bad mood or is really pessimistic about everything, take them to coffee or a movie. They might just be lonely and/or in some need of a positive influence. Plus helping people will only make you feel better enriching your life and boosting your positivity attitude.

3. See the Positive in the Negative

One of the reasons I am writing this is that I have had a pretty discouraging weekend. Nothing really went as planned. I wanted to write down some things that were positive in order to balance out the negative thoughts and I ended up writing this. So within the negative, a positive was born. Negativity breeds negativity. If something bad happens try to take a look at what positive could come out of it. Ask yourself these questions;

• What is something I can I learn from what just happened?
• Is there a positive opportunity that can become of this?
• What positive thing can I do to avoid this happening again?
• What is a positive thing to take from this?

Obviously these questions will not likely be answered right away. In the moment you are upset and that is ok. You have to accept those emotions for what they are; as to not suppress them. After some time has passed, when you cool off, look back and really ask yourself those questions. Also, answer them. Answer them as truthfully and honestly as you can. You have nothing to hide. No one is watching or listening. You never know, you might learn something about yourself; which would be a positive thing. See what I did there?

4. Find a Balance

This is the truth. Balance. Life is all about balance. Unfortunately negativity, evil and all the bad things in life have a place. Their purpose is not to hurt us or beat us down, but to remind us of how amazing the rest of our lives are. Without some bad times to contrast, would we really appreciate the good like we should? Accept the bad things and the bad feelings in our lives because that is one of the things that make us human and will ultimately help the positivity shine!!

5. Absorb the Positive World Around You

Read blogs and books and watch youtube channels that exude positivity.  Preston Smiles is one of my favorite youtube channels as well as Alexi Panos. I watch their videos everyday. Find the joy in something silly or mundane. Smile at a stranger, chuckle at how ridiculous traffic is, watch a little kid or a dog play. Admire the brilliance of architecture or wonder at how an airplane can fly through the sky. Bring some happiness into your life. Tell a cop thank you, say something nice to the counter person at the deli or the checker at the grocery store. Outward actions help bare inward changes.

Be present. Worry less about what happened before or what is happening next. Be in the moment, play hop-scotch or jumprope with some kids in the street, tell someone a silly joke or laugh a stupid one. Laugh at yourself! Go for a hike, smell the outside air, watch some birds, all these things will bring  so much positivity, joy and optimism, if only for a moment, into your life.

Thank you so much for reading this. I’ll see you out there and let’s get weird.

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