Tag: love

I talk a lot about the importance of staying positive even on days that aren’t our easiest, or life isn’t going according to the plan. I know there’s plenty of negative happenings in life that shake you up, knocks you off kilter, and make you wonder “What the heck just happened here?” It can be difficult to trust life at times we feel pain so acutely like, suffer a failed marriage, lose a job, succumb to depression or illness, or lose someone we love. You want to know “What is there to be positive about at times like that?” My answer to that is there is always, always, something to be thankful for.

We are not meant to suffer endlessly in our mental prisons of depression or anxiety causing us to worry about what might happen, for endless hours. You deserve to have small joys, and happy times even when life sucks socks. I am not saying that you can’t go ahead, have a small pity party for one. Scream, cry to your favorite heartbreak song while driving down the highway, or be good and pissed off occasionally. There are times that call for these reactions, but there’s no good outcomes of extended periods of wallowing in our misery. There is scientific proof that prolonged stress, and negativity will wreak havoc on our immune systems and state of mind; leading to a lesser quality of life.

I believe in the power of positivity, and that there is always, always, always something to be thankful for. It is in these moments of despair that we need to see what we are thankful for the most. When you have the most terrible week at work and you get to sit down at the dinner table with the family that loves you, be thankful that the love of your family is there to help you get through, and you are blessed with enough to eat. When families fall apart, we are thankful for the blessing of supportive loyal friends. When we lose a loved one, we are reminded to cherish the loved ones you still have standing, making your love seem to grow even deeper. If you lose a job, I believe the Higher Power does that to give you something better, move you forward to something more suitable for you. It maybe a struggle financially, but the perks are getting to see the people you love, hang out with your kids or spouse, and finally give them more of your time, love and attention (all things that money cannot buy.)

In our consumerist money driven society, we often forget that quality time, love, and attention are things you cannot buy in a store or make more of when you want it. Being positive means to me that we focus on the blessings we have here and now, even if you feel you have nothing, you do have yourself and your will to make life look the way you want it to. It is our choices that move us forward or keep us in the same situation. When times are tough it is then when we must look deep within ourselves and ask our soul what we really need.

It is often in times of struggle and pain we are able to ask our higher selves “Well, this sucks, what’s the best plan now? Where should I focus my next steps? What is the best direction for me?” When life makes you uncomfortable it is because it is time to move forward from what is no longer serving your best interest. (Maybe not in the case of death but in most other instances that cause us strife like work, relationships, or dramas; these are signs to work on yourself.)

By being positive during these transitional periods helps us look forward to days with longer stretches of joy. Having something to look forward to, is essential to keeping your head up, keeping your eyes on the prize, helping you put one foot in front of the other. It can be as simple as a dinner date with your best friend, or a vacation that’s eight months away. It is something positive that you can put your energy to as opposed to doing laps around your mind; just stirring up vortex of crazy negativity that even unintentionally, yet undoubtedly will spread through the rest of your life and to the people in it. It is our own responsibility to take ownership of our energy/thoughts and how we use it. If we go around complaining about everything and anything all day long, you will be looking for more things to complain about to keep you in your vibration of unpleasantness. Often trying to bring others down with you, because their joy makes you uncomfortable.

That’s how energy works, there is negative and positive flow, if you touch them together it doesn’t feel good. That’s why happy people avoid negativity and negative people look for more negative situations or news to keep there vibes just where it feels comfortable to them. Joy and positivity take practice, I see that even some people are afraid to be happy because they think it’s too good to be true or it won’t last. That’s a shame that you can’t enjoy the moment when it is offered to them, it is sad that we give our power of joy away to the power of negativity when we do have the ability to choose which one we would rather feel.

Keeping positive takes practice, by purposely adding people or events into your lives, scheduling time doing anything at all that helps you nurture the joy inside of you is the best healthy habit that you can give yourself. Being thankful for a good night’s rest so you can face the day, enjoying the beauty in the sunset/sunrise, really feeling your heart swell when you hear you child belly laugh, or a meaningful conversation that makes you feel heard, are the small golden movements we dismiss for having no value because you can’t buy them, when they should be cherished for the same reason. Money cannot buy happiness, you will not find happiness at the store you must be able to see it, and accept it into your daily practice if you want to cultivate more of it.

Practicing positivity brings you inner joy, inner joy brings outer glow, outer glow vibrations will attract love, luck and situations that pull more good things into your energy field. Simple as that. Practicing positivity, keeping your head up in times of adversity, loving at times you don’t feel loved yourself, will help you be the person you want to be. The Universe/God will not give you more than you can handle, I believe it is how you handle the things that come your way that makes up the quality of your life. Trusting our life path even when it doesn’t go as planned is part of the journey, it is up to us to if we want to sit on the cactus we’ve been given, or we can nurture it and water it until it blooms into something beautiful.

Psalm 23:4 – Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

I am not a religious person, but I do find tremendous value in the core of all religions teachings, it is about love, acceptance and trust of your life path. It is the resistance to change that causes the pain, if we can accept what is, look around to find what is also great, we can choose to move forward by taking purposeful steps toward greatness. That is the whole point of the power of positivity, when you can see it, use it and keep your eye on it, choose to keep your head up and aim right for it you will hit the mark or at least get somewhere closer to it then you were before. I believe that makes all the difference in the world to what kind of day you will have. It’s every single day of choices you make that add up to your life time, what kind of life do you choose to cultivate?

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. ~ Aristotle