Positivity

"I love Wednesdays!" I thought to myself as I opened my eyes last Wednesday morning. Then I sort of thought about what I had just thought to myself. And was surprised at the sudden burst of positive-ness I just experienced!


Could it be that the simple statement I proclaimed in my head had influenced my outlook for the day?

It's funny how just thinking positive thoughts can change your attitude and thoughts of your heart. I have found that forcing myself to react positively as opposed to reacting negatively makes such a difference, no matter what you are facing.

I am an optimist. I really do like to look at the bright side of things. It makes life so much happier and more pleasant to be looking for the flowers not the weeds!
Yet there are still many, many times I have to tell myself to be positive. Positivity and the choice to be joyful regardless of circumstances doesn't come straight away even for us optimists! :)

I tried to think of some positive things we can say and do that influence our attitude. Here's what I came up with.

Speak positivity to yourself.
Speak positive words to yourself. A great time to start this is as soon as you wake up in the morning. I was amazed at how my simple "I love Wednesdays!" thought made my attitude so much more pleasant when I awoke! I don't care whether you hate every day of the week. When you wake up, think to yourself, "I love ..........*!" (* = the day of the week you find yourself in) It really makes a difference.

Speak positivity to others. 
Say nice things to people. "I love you" to family members is a great start. This is also a win-win situation for the reasons outlined in the previous point.

   






  






   Carry a song in your heart. 

Sing a song in your head, or better still, aloud. Singing greatly improves the joy and positivity in the atmosphere and it forces you to stop whining in order to sing! (As long as you are singing something positive and not something dodgy). Don’t know what to sing? Praise and worship is always a great start. Can’t sing? Play some music through Spotify or iTunes or the radio or a CD or any of a million different ways you can get music. No more excuses, okay!

Spread joy through smiles.
Give away smiles liberally. Think of smiles as little gifts you have the power to give to anyone and everyone you encounter! Smiling at the world boosts your positivity and it boosts others, too! What a win-win for everyone.

Say it even if you don't feel it!
Say the positive thing even if you don’t feel like saying the positive thing. For example, your cat has just knocked one of your favourite china plates off the shelf and it’s shattered into a gazillion trillion hundred pieces on the floor. This is your opportunity! Take a deep breath, say a quick prayer to God for strength so you don’t yell at the cat, and then say brightly, “I’m so glad it was just one and not the entire stack of plates.”

This Pollyanna-esque style of looking at things might seem incredibly forced and yes, it might be to begin with, but trust me, it will help you look at things in such a different way!

Would you call yourself an optimist or a pessimist? Or neither? Why?
What are some good ways to put on your positive pants?

PS. Do you like my quirky headers??