In the past, whenever I read a quote telling me to improve my positivity, or whenever I see someone preaching about the benefits of a positive attitude, I roll my eyes, scoff at them and the naivety of their advocacy, and dismiss the idea of being positive altogether.
“Why should I be positive?” I thought, “Positivity will only make me vulnerable and clueless. It won’t push me to make the necessary changes in my life! Also, an optimistic attitude won’t help pay for the bills. I don’t need to be positive.”
And so, every time I encounter something in my life, I was so used to seeing the negative in every life experience that there came a point when I would rather stay at home, lie in bed and write about all the depressing things in my life instead of going to work, talking to new people. learning from these experiences and becoming a new and improved version of me.
As they say, when you hit rock bottom, there is nowhere to go now but up.
I tried going up.
Naturally, it wasn’t easy. I was so used to defaulting to negativity that it really took physical and mental effort on my part to try and look at the brighter things in life.
Whenever someone criticized me, I refrained from criticizing them back.
I tried to keep an open mind and asked myself if I could learn from the comment. If I could, I’d try to improve. But then, if I couldn’t, I simply let it go. One perk that positivity has made me realize is this: “Sometimes, a criticism aimed at you may not always be about you. ” If that’s the case, then, let it go.
When I lost one of my big clients, it affected me significantly. I panicked, I sulked and I even took my disappointment out on the people closest to me. As a result, I was miserable and broke. No one even wanted to talk to me for the fear of getting hurt.
Again, I had to consciously make a decision to maintain my positivity, even at that time. After having a good cry, I decided to focus on my passion, personal finance. I made an effort to re-connect with loved ones and potential mentors.
The most important thing I did? I learned to say “thank you” to God, to everyone and even to myself!
“Thank you, God, for never failing to bless me with Your grace.”
“Thank you, family and friends, for believing in me and supporting me for who I am.”
“Thank you, Lianne, for never giving up on yourself.”
And now, I have managed to author a personal finance book, I’ve become a licensed financial adviser, and I get to start on my (very) small publishing business.
Cultivating positivity and learning to be thankful are indeed great life-changers. By doing this, my life has significantly improved and turned a 180.
I understand if you don’t believe me—I was once a cynic, after all. How can I make sure that you’re going to be happy just by harboring positive thoughts and being thankful, right?
I can’t give you definite proof based on personal experiences.
But I do encourage you to reconsider positivity by watching this video:
In this video, Dr. Masaru Emoto placed rice into 3 beakers and poured water into them. For a month:
– He said “Thank you” to the 1st beaker;
– He said “You’re an idiot” to the 2nd beaker;
– And he completely ignored the 3rd beaker.
Can you guess what happened?
– The rice in the 1st beaker started to ferment wonderfully and give off an amazing aroma;
– The rice in the 2nd beaker turned black;
– And the rice in the 3rd beaker started to rot.
Now, you can either continue being negative and trash-talking yourself, or you can start harboring positivity and empowering yourself to be the best version that you can be.
Science has already spoken.
What do you say?
Featured photo credit: PC250274.JPG/ chilombiano via cdn.morguefile.com
