“Positive and negative are directions that lead to different outcomes. Which direction do you choose?” –Remez Sasson
Positive thinking is obviously not a magic wand bringing closure to all your struggles and troubles. Positive thinking isn`t some kind of miracle cure for all your frailties and inadequacies. But what I can tell you is this; positive thinking will make a world of difference in your life. Now, read on to discover in specific terms five things positive thinking will do for you.
Maximize your skills and talents
Negative thinking affects your self-esteem. It makes you doubt your capabilities and so, instead of expending your skills and talents towards the work at hand, you coil into your shelves; you remain in your comfort zone while your skills and talents remain dormant.
On the other hand, positive thinking boosts your self-esteem. A healthy self-esteem invariably impacts your conduct. You meet that arduous task at work, in school, or at home and you are assured you can handle it. This certainly isn`t built on false hopes and expectations. Not at all! You are fully aware of your capabilities and talents, and so you address that challenge from that position of advantage. The more you put to work your skills and talents, the better you become. Your productivity is enhanced. As a positive thinker, you are in essence a possibility thinker.
Leverage your experience
The saying, “A man with experience is not at the mercy of a man with an argument” holds true. Positive thinking will bring to your focus successes chalked in the past and this will re-enforce belief in your capacity to meet the present challenge. For the positive thinker, experiences ought not to go to waste. Yes, you might have failed your examinations some time back but that does not mean you cannot excel this time round. What the positive thinker will do in a situation such as this is reflect on this past experience of failure and deduce lessons from that experience. The positive thinker learns from past mistakes and takes steps to ensure those mistakes do not recur. The positive thinker learns from both past successes and failures and leverages such experiences to counter prevailing challenges.
Creative thinking / thinking outside the box
This line of reasoning when faced with challenging moments: “I cannot do this” should be thrown out the window. Such a mindset only shuts down your thinking cap, as it were; it hinders creative and imaginative thinking. Your mind is automatically put to sleep instead of being stretched to find some kind of solution. As a consequence, you fail to make any efforts at finding some kind of a solution. It was Wayne Gretzky who wisely observed, “You miss 100% of the shots you don`t take.” You obviously do not want this to be true about your life.
Think “I can.” Think “How can I do this?” “How can this be done?” “How can I afford this?” This line of thinking and way of approaching issues puts your mind to work. You begin to think about possible solutions. Here you are, presented with the challenge of raising some funds to pay for tuition in college. You have no sponsors and you are jobless. The negative thinker will simply call it quits; “To hell with education”, he or she may quip, fully convinced there isn`t a way out. The positive thinker, however, begins to ponder on possibilities; exploring a variety of options in the course of time. Lo and behold, he or she comes up with a not-too-conventional plan that eventually brings in the funds to pay for tuition.
Inspires hope
A sense of hopelessness is crippling, to say the least. It kills initiative and drive; circumstances you could have ordinarily dealt with and tasks you could have accomplished are left undone. Stagnation and retrogression become more apparent. The good news however is that you don`t have to remain in this state. What positive thinking would do for you is to inspire hope; the hope of a better tomorrow; the hope that things will change for the better; the hope that all is not lost yet. With a sense of hope, you will find fresh zeal and enthusiasm to face the circumstances of life. This will show in your actions and inactions. And progress would be made in most cases than not.
Identify opportunities amidst the odds
William Arthur Ward made a profound statement thus: “Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.” The negative thinker faces difficulty and suddenly thinks there is no way out. “It`s a hopeless case”, some are quick to admit. Little wonder some resort to taking their own lives but that is a defeatist approach. You are bigger and better than this. That challenge you are faced with is surmountable. That challenge isn`t unique to you. Many others have been in your shoes before and trust me, some have weathered the storms and have emerged stronger. They chose to be positive thinkers, finding opportunities in the midst of challenges.
Talk of Joni Eareckson Tada who lost the use of her hands right down to her feet (quadriplegic) as a result of an accident suffered while in her teens. It will interest you to know that she is an author, singer, radio host, speaker, and the founder of a humanitarian organization (Joni & Friends). She is also an artist; she holds her brushes with her teeth and paints beautiful art forms. Sir Winston Churchill aptly noted (and I concord), “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” You are certainly better off being a positive thinker than a negative thinker. Become a possibility thinker today. Yes, you can.
I am a freelance writer/editor, blogger & published author. I hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theology from the University of Wales, UK. Email: dudelda3@yahoo.com. Blog: http://danieldeladunoo.blogspot.com / http:theroyalwordsmithgh.wordpress.com
