Think Positive - Make Life Better !

Is our glass half-full or half-empty? On those days when nothing in our life seems to be going right, it can be really tough to see the silver lining among all those clouds. However, it's during these times when the ability to see the good in even the worst situations is so important. A positive attitude benefits not only our mental health, but your physical well-being as well.

Helen Keller says, " When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us ". This is very true and most of us are victims of this. To make it clear let me share a simple but good story which I came across reminding us of the choice we have to think- positive or negative.

There was once an old lady who cried all the time. Her elder daughter was married to an umbrella merchant while the younger daughter was the wife of a noodle vendor. On sunny days, she worried, "Oh no! The weather is so nice and sunny. No one is going to buy any umbrellas. What will happen if the shop has to be closed?" These worries made her sad. She just could not help but cry. When it rained, she would cry for the younger daughter. She thought, "Oh no! My younger daughter is married to a noodle vendor. You cannot dry noodles without the sun. Now there will be no noodles to sell. What should we do?" As a result, the old lady lived in sorrow everyday. Whether sunny or rainy, she grieved for one of her daughters. Her neighbors could not console her and jokingly called her "the crying lady."

One day, she met a monk. He was very curious as to why she was always crying. She explained the problem to him. The monk smiled kindly and said, "Sister! You need not worry. I will show you a way to happiness, and you will need to grieve no more."

The crying lady was very excited. She immediately asked the monk to show her what to do. The master replied, "It is very simple. You just need to change your perspective. On sunny days, do not think of your elder daughter not being able to sell umbrellas but the younger daughter being able to dry her noodles. With such good strong sunlight, she must be able to make plenty of noodles and her business must be very good. When it rains, think about the umbrella store of the elder daughter. With the rain, everyone must be buying umbrellas. She will sell a lot of umbrellas and her store will prosper."

The old lady saw the light. She followed the monk’s instruction. After a while, she did not cry anymore; instead, she was smiling everyday. From that day on she was known as "the smiling lady".

The story tells us, we cannot change the things happening around us but we can change the way we look at it.The choice between positive & negative thinking is very much within us.We can focus on the positive side of everything and stop worrying about the negative side of it.

Our minds are an incredibly powerful tool, and as we know, we only use a small portion of it every day. Our thoughts play a significant role in how we view the world, and the positive v/s negative thoughts we carry with us can be the foundation for all sorts of things in our lives, both good and bad.

But, we know no matter what happens and how good our life seems to be going, there are going to be times when it seems like everything is going bad or just not the way that we want it to. In these times, we can choose to either allow ourselves to feel down and out, or we can decide to overcome any of these adversities and learn how to look for the opportunity that is being presented.

How to Think & Stay Positive?

Many people believe that positive thinking takes lots of effort. In the beginning, while we form the new habit, it certainly will take awareness. However, the only way to empower ourselves to live Our Very Excellent Life is to live consciously with an awareness of our thoughts.

It is said that of the 65,000 plus thoughts that flip through our mind each day, 95% of them are the same ones we thought yesterday. Yes, 95%! Why in the world do we do that? The simple answer-most of us live in the past or the future, missing the only time that really counts and really that matters- the present.

Most of us use the energy we need for today, to keep alive memories from the past or misuse our imagination by carrying past pain into the future as slightly altered experiences. The fears that stop us from living our dreams are really expectation of bad experiences in the future. In other words, many of us take our past into the future and remain stuck in life.

With little effort we can find ourselves to be positive thinkers. Positive thinking is actually very simple, here are a few ways we can get started...and have a positive impact on all areas in our life:

• If we find ourselves thinking a negative thought, change it to a positive thought.
• Surround our life with positive people, don't allow negativity into our life.
• Spend our time on activities that bring us happiness.
• Invoke positive memories whenever we can.
• Cherish the simple pleasures in our life.
• Be around people who make us laugh.
• Love ourselves

Don't fool ourselves into thinking that, just because the above ideas are simple they will not work. The opposite is actually true, and we all know what impact positive v/s negative thoughts can have in our life. If we convey a positive attitude towards others we will be surrounded by people who want to be around us and are positive themselves. These relationships will only continue to grow and bring more positive energy into our life. The opposite is true as well, so keep positive thoughts.

Remember thinking positive is only a plat form where the thinking has to translate into positive action which should eventually become positive habits which lead to positive results. But every thing starts with positive thinking!

Have you heard of the old saying "he woke up on the wrong side of the bed?" We have all experienced this before ourselves, for some reason we wake up in a bad mood and our entire day seems to turn out bad. Did you know that we can change this?

Begin each day in a positive manner. Open the drapes to let the sun shine in, put on some of our favorite music, tell ourselves a positive thought or two...whatever it takes to start our positive thinking. We will be amazed at what these simple changes can bring to our life.

Well, just because these ideas are simple...does not mean they are easy. That is probably why everyone is not walking around with a positive attitude, because it takes work, desire, and discipline to live our life in this manner. It is easier being negative! The choice is ours, we have nobody to blame but ourselves, when deciding between positive v/s negative thoughts.

What are your thoughts now- Positive or Negative ?

Shamim