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We were all born with hope, with endless creativity and positive vibes around us. We are raised to believe that the world is our oyster and there is nothing we cannot have. As children we play like we can’t get hurt and we befriend everyone that is around the same height as us. But then something happens. We begin to see that the world isn’t perfect, that we have limitations, and we open the door to negativity and pessimism. We come to a fork in the road - are we going to live our lives thinking positively or are we going to have a negative outlook on life?
Three months ago I woke up to the worst headache I could ever imagine. I took an Advil and headed off to work, but after three days, I wasn’t feeling any better. I was actually starting to feel worse. Then on the fourth day, something horrifying happened. I lost my vision in one eye, and then began a long roller coaster of “what the heck is going on with me”. In the middle of all this, I had tickets to see Melissa Etheridge and since I was counting day the days to see her in concert again, I wasn’t going to let a blindness get in my way. Before the concert, I headed out for Chinese food. As custom, at the end of the meal we each strategically chose a fortune cookie. When I cracked mine open, I could hardly believe what I saw (or half saw I guess you can say). It said: “Expect the best”. I can’t exactly explain how my thought process worked but in that moment I looked up and knew in my heart of hearts, I was going to be OK. Last week, after three months of poking and prodding, I was given the A-OK by my Doctors. I was fine (and yes, I can now see again).
Before I opened that fortune cookie that day, believe me, I was convinced the sky was falling. Remember Chicken Little? Well, that was me. I never allowed a positive thought to enter my mind in fear that the worst would come true. I told myself that by being negative and fearful, I was just protecting myself in case the worst case scenario became true. I was sitting there knowing that I had a 50% chance of having something dreadfully wrong with me, but what I was forgetting was that I had just an equal amount of chance of everything being OK. I cannot begin to tell you how much better I felt when I started focusing on the glass being half full instead of seeing it as half empty.
Studies show that optimistic people seem to be able to achieve more even though they might have less. Optimistic people are more constructive, they have more energy, fewer health problems and they tend to bounce back a lot quicker than pessimistic people. Unfortunately, negative people are their own worst enemy. I am not saying that everything in life has to come with a bright shiny ribbon, but always expecting the worse can’t be good on our own psyche either.
For years people were going nuts over “The Secret”. I’ll admit, I watched the DVD and started purposefully thinking positive thoughts. Now, did I win the lottery? Not exactly, but I can honestly say that just thinking positive made me feel better.
As my mentor told me “Jamie, the universe sent you a loud and clear message... Live in the moment. Nothing is guaranteed and all can change in an instant. Hug your wife and your kids and drink an extra glass of wine today!” How right is she! I challenge you to start today expecting and planning for the best. Life is uncertain, but this is one roller coaster I never want to get off of - but that’s just my 4 cents!
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Last week, I caught my 6 year old reciting some positive reinforcements under his breathe before going down a waterslide. (He referred to this particular slide as "a death trap" and has always been fearful of waterslides). "Before he plummitted into the yellow hole he whispered, "I can do this, I can do this, I can do this" and kept repeating it several times. After he came to the surface, he said "huh, I knew I could do it....well that was no biggie". Leave it to a 6 year old to teach me that positive words CAN conquer all!