I was asked today, considering everything that’s happening, why or how can we be positive!?!

Great question!

When you look at the world today, it is sometimes very hard to see any positive news. The violence, the hate, the fear mongering, bullying, the people who our societies seem to have forgotten, all paint a pretty dark picture.

As humans, we are much more likely to gravitate towards and talk about a negative experience than a positive one. Look at Facebook or Twitter and see how easy it is for people to spew hatred or complain about a business or a person as opposed to bringing up a great experience they’ve had, something a neighbor or friend had done for them. If we believe this, does that mean that the only businesses are bad? Does it mean that the people in our lives are bad and uncaring? Of course not!

If someone sitting at a table talks about having a bad back, listen to the onslaught of comments from others about how bad their back is or the bad experience they’ve had with surgery, chiropractor or acupuncture. It’s just how we’re made up.

I don’t want to get mired down in the numbers too much, but here are some that jumped out at me when I was doing some research on this.

People who are upset, mad or unhappy with service will tell between 9-13 people and around 13% of those people will tell more than 20 people! Now, contrast that with people who are happy with a business or service. These people only tell between 4-6 people – (White House Office of Consumer Affairs, 2013).

So between the media, our tendencies to go negative, the genuinely bad news, personal setbacks, etc… What good does it do to be positive?

Ask yourself if you feel better when your mad and negative or if your happy and positive? The answer, of course, is positive. Now ask yourself if you get more good things done when you’re positive or negative? Again, probably the answer is positive. One more, if you’re a parent, ask yourself if you would suggest to your child to be dark and negative while complaining and pointing fingers at others, or would you rather they find a way to be positive, understand their setbacks and find a way to believe they will reach their goal?

We are more likely to achieve our goals and move forward when we are happy, joyful, grateful, etc.

We are more likely to see opportunities when we are in those states as well.

Try this in the morning right after you wake. With your eyes closed, just smile! Lay there for 15-20 seconds and just smile, whether you “feel like it” or not. Be aware, at the beginning, you might feel a little goofy for doing this, but go with me on this one. After a while, you might start thinking of something or someone who will make you smile more, you might find yourself more relaxed, you might notice that you’re happier than the day before. When you’re done, get up and get on with your day. Congratulations you just started your day out on a positive note instead of immediately complaining about aches and pains or the temperature, etc… Throw in a few “thank you’s” and a couple of “I’m so grateful for’s” and I’m “positive” you’re going to like the results.

The final answer to the question of “why” is because YOU DESERVE IT! Life isn’t always going to be easy and we are all faced with different challenges, but always remember and more than that, always remind yourself that YOU DESERVE TO BE HAPPY AND TO BE POSITIVE.

You DESERVE to live the life you want to live and it begins with finding a way to find the positives In your life, hold onto them and the use them to build your successes.

Gregg