Written By Claire Meintjes

Positivity is something we all crave, yet it is something we have to work hard to achieve. Being positive is a mindset, which we need to choose to feed and nurture us everyday. It does not come naturally, it is a change in your thinking, the way you see life, ultimately a change of heart.

Many will have seen the example of the poster of a pint glass half filled with beer. The sub-text, reads, “Is the glass half empty, or is the glass half full?” The test is that if you are a pessimist, you are likely to say the glass is half empty, if you are an optimist, you will say the glass is half full.

Negativity will have a major impact on your life if you focus on the the half empty glass, as this will highlight what your circumstance is lacking. Whilst if your view is that the glass is half full, then you will find hope and potential in every situation. Everything in life has two sides, positive and negative, Ying and Yang. We just have to concentrate on the positivity of the circumstance if we want to progress in a positive manner.

A dear friend of mine always seemed to be bombarded with negative issues; she was in a job she hated, verbally abused by customers on a daily basis, so how could she be positive? How do you get past the hard things that happen to you on a regular basis?

You are the storyteller of your own life, and you can create the legend or not.
~Isabel Allende

Your life is your story, you write it, you design it-as Natasha Beddingfield sings in her inspirational 2004 song Unwritten “The rest is still unwritten...”. Challenges may come your way but you ultimately decide how circumstances will affect you and what you will do to make the outcome favorable. Are you going to be the hero or are you going to let life walk all over you?

There was once a set of six-year-old twin boys who who were very different from one another. Jack optimistic, while Jason was pessimistic. Puzzled by their conflicting behavior, a team of professors placed each child on a chair in the middle of two very different rooms, Jason the pessimist was placed in a room full to the brim with beautifully wrapped presents, whilst Jack the optimist was placed in a room full of manure. Both children were left for an hour by the professors. On their return, they paid a visit to Jason, only to discover that he was still sat on his chair looking very afraid. “Why did you not open a single present?” they asked, and Jason stammered “I was afraid that I would break something, and also afraid that I would get into trouble if I unwrapped anything or messed anything up.

When they went into Jacks room they found him head first, frantically digging through the manure. “What are you doing child!?” They asked, and taking a breather Jack replied “With all this manure, there has to be a donkey in here somewhere!”

Take control of the story-of your life, you will be amazed by the results:

Here are some tips on taking control:

List the good things that have happened to you.

Write them down and place them somewhere where you will see them regularly.

Remember the compliments you’ve received and mull them over by printing them into your memory bank. It’s human nature to memorize-and sometimes magnify the negatives in life, but positives are so much more powerful, and impact-full in giving you a more successful life-story.

Every morning when you wake up list three things:

Firstly: One thing you are grateful for, this is personal to you, for example, it could be your health, a roof over your head, or your family. The simple things that play a role in your Well-being, which we often take for grated.

Secondly: List something you like about yourself. Your smile, your nails, your hair, your ability to share, tell a good joke, ability to cook, bake, encourage. Everyone has good qualities regardless of the measure-or the magnitude of the portion you contain. Again anything here works. However, on each day you cannot use something you have used before, it must be fresh. Good things about ourselves appear everyday, we just have to recognize them. Everyday we are granted a new beginning.

And lastly Have a goal, affirm that goal every morning. Whether it is something small like buying a designer gown, going for a swim, having a hair-cut, or a big career goal, like a CEO vision, a supervisor position, a project manager, an art dealer, whatever it is, believing in you is the key to achieving that goal.

Surrounding yourself with positive people is a major key to success. It is proven that your chosen company of friends and acquaintance reflect who you are, and essentially who you become. Having positive people around you will influence you beyond comprehension. As a result you will impact the people around you, particularly those who gravitate towards negativity. Impacting people around you and being optimistic will give you more ideas for things you like about yourself for your daily morning list.

Remember: very little is needed to make a happy life.

~Marcus Aurelius

Remember to be positive to the people you meet, overlook rudeness, as your optimism and friendliness may leave some ashamed and others uplifted. You never know what someone may be going through. Be the light in your story that shines into the lives of others.