Staying Positive In A Hectic World
To maintain your inner peace, a key skill is staying positive.
To continue on with my discussion on Self-Confidence and Self-Worth, to live a truly amazing life, you need to know that you can handle whatever comes your way.
A big part of that is mastering the ability to stay positive no matter what seems to be going on around you.
Feeling that things are happening for a reason even if you don’t understand why will give you inner peace and calm. And when you’re calm inside, you’re able to make smarter decisions in the moment.
It’s All In How You Perceive It
I’ll start with a parable.
There was once a farmer in a village and one day, his horse ran away. So, the villagers came up to him and said, “Oooh! That’s bad.”
He shrugged his shoulders and said, “Good or bad, hard to say.”
The next day, the horse returned and brought with it seven wild horses. So, the villagers came up to him and said, “Ah! more horses, that’s good.”
He shrugged his shoulders and said, “Good or bad, hard to say.”
A week later, the farmer’s son was riding one of the wild horses, was thrown off it and breaks his leg. So, the villagers came up to him and said, “That’s terrible luck.”
He shrugged his shoulders and said, “Good or bad, hard to say.”
The next week, the king sent word commanding all able men of age to enlist in the army for the upcoming war against a neighbouring kingdom. They came to the village to look for men to enlist but when they see the farmer’s son has a broken leg, they pass him by. Now, the villagers came up to him and said, “That’s good luck!”
He shrugged his shoulders and said, “Good or bad, hard to say.”
Are Things Good or Bad?
Situations, people, and things are neither good nor bad. They just are. It’s when we put our perception on them that they gain the value of positive or negative.
When your car breaks down, it’s bad for you but it’s good for your mechanic.
If a relationship changes dramatically or ends, you may think it’s bad at first. We get stuck in our desire for things to stay the same.
But it could be good for us to step back and evaluate ourselves. It could be a great moment of inner growth.
And it could be an opportunity to look elsewhere and build new relationships.
What Is The Truth
We’ve been raised to believe there is one truth. That there is only one right answer. And we get uncomfortable when someone else’s truth doesn’t match our own.
The truth is that we’re all here living our lives as best we can. Most awful things happen out of fear and feeling of loss of control.
We need inner strength to be able to live our true lives and accept others living theirs. When we’re thinking positively, we can see how much that benefits all.
And you’re building up your vision for your life when you can see clearly what you want and feel confident that you will achieve it.
Using the Law of Attraction
When you feel happy and content with what you have, the Universe wants to give you more of the things that make you happy. I don’t know why but I do know it to be true.
We also have a responsibility to take care of what we’re given. T. Harv Eker has an analogy about taking a small child out for ice cream.
The child wants a triple scoop, so the parent buys that. When walking out of the store, the child licks the top scoop of ice cream off on to the ground.
Do you think the parent is going to buy another triple scoop? Absolutely not until they’re sure the child can handle it.
Practice to Make Positive
If you want a lot of money but are always overspending, then you’re going to continue to overspend no matter how much money you receive.
And chances are you don’t believe you really are going to achieve your goal of being independently wealthy.
So start small and practice budgeting and mindfulness when buying. That will build up your belief in yourself that you can achieve your desire.
Then you’ll also feel the joy that comes from positive thinking and a peaceful heart.
Update How You View Yourself
Are you holding yourself back because of an outdated image of yourself?
It’s time to get brave.
You’ve been growing and developing in many ways even over the last few months.
You aren’t the same person that got you to where you’re at.
Old Way of Thinking Gets You the Same Old Results
Where you’re at now is the result of the way you thought.
To get to where you want to go requires new levels of thinking.
Spend some time reflecting on who you were a year ago. Then review your dream goals, and think about who you have to become to achieve those goals.
If you want to be a successful published author, then you need to be the kind of person who writes daily. You need to be the kind of person who enjoys reading books on the craft of writing.
The person who goes out every night with friends isn’t going to get that book written.
Next come up with a list of habits and behaviors that you want to develop, ones you have that you want to keep, and ones that you need to get rid of. Or at least lessen for a time.
Tips and Tricks for Staying Positive
Life has its up and downs. You can’t change it. You can change how you react to it.
Remember that nothing is in itself good or bad. It’s all in how we perceive it. So if something doesn’t look good, spend some time thinking about something positive about it.
It’s ok if it’s totally ludicrous. I have a friend who gets upset at seeing animals who have been hit by cars. Her husband told her that it’s like a tapas bar for crows. That made her giggle. It doesn’t mean she likes seeing them now. But at least she knows there’s reasons and cycles and seasons.
Live in the present moment. Accept what is as it is. Don’t look back on the past and wish you’d done everything differently. If you want your life to change, make those changes right now.
Be brave. It takes a lot of courage to live a positive life. And as time goes on, you’ll find that it’s easier.
By the same token, decide that it’s a complete waste of your time and life to worry or dread anything. Worry just pulls you down.
Instead, choose to think about what would happen if the best possible outcome occurred. Dr. Joe Vitale calls this “What-if-up thinking.” And it can be a lot of fun.
My Final Thoughts
When it comes right down to it, you know if you’re living a positive life or not. You need to get in touch with your head, heart and gut.
If they’re not in alignment, it’s time to re-evaluate your life. Maybe you expected things to be different. If so, then it’s time to ask yourself if that difference is something that’s important, or something you need to let go and redefine what makes you happy.
If it’s important, then you will need to find the courage to make changes. It helps to be very mindful so you can see the stepping stones you’ll need to take to get where you want to go.
Above all, be pleased with who you are and what you have. Spend time building up your beliefs in yourself by slowly gaining the new skills that will take you to your dream goal.
You may as well feel peace and calm right now as you’re continuing to grow.
