A lot has been written on this topic, here are my two cents.
To begin with I would like to quote a couple of lines from my favorite poem If You Think: “Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or the faster man, But sooner or later the man who wins is the man who thinks he can!”
Such is the power of positive thoughts and a positive attitude. Thoughts translate into actions, and actions make us who we are and who we will eventually become. Hence, we must not undermine the significance of a positive attitude towards everything in life. We are the creators of our own destiny – what unfolds is what we think of. William James rightly said, “The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering attitudes of mind.” I would recommend you read ‘You Can Win’ by Shiv Khera for more insights and anecdotes.
I believe no one adopts anything negative wishfully; this holds true for pessimism as well. Most of us go through life believing that our circumstances, our environment, and other extraneous factors make most of us what we are! Right? Absolutely wrong!! Even if life is treating you badly, YOU have the choice to react in the way YOU want. If life throws lemons at you, make lemonade and call everyone for a party! That’s called a Positive Attitude! The power of choice is a great one. Each day, in each situation you face in life, you ALWAYS have two choices: to be in a good mood or bad, to be brave or scared, to smile or frown, in short to be positive or negative. So, don’t simply react – make a choice!
All said and done – it is not easy! May be the next few examples would motivate you towards maintaining a positive attitude and making a positive choice. While I would never encourage anyone from dropping out of school, it seemed like a suitable choice for Bill Gates who dropped out of Harvard, maintained a positive attitude, cashed on the opportunity and made it as the richest man in the world. Abraham Lincoln failed in business, was defeated in legislative race, overcame the death of his sweetheart, had a nervous breakdown, lost congressional race, lost senatorial race, failed in an effort to become vice-president and yet Abraham Lincoln became the 16th President of United States. It would have been difficult had he not maintained a positive attitude after the rejections he faced. The famous Thomas Edison was partially deaf and was sent back from school at 4 years of age. He just had 3 months of formal schooling. So you see what a positive attitude can do for you.
“If you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right!” – Henry Ford.
When you are going to do something and you think ‘You can’ eventually you will. The opposite is true as well. The battle is half won or lost right there in your mind. A self-fulfilling prophecy comes into play. I have personally experienced this innumerable times that our thoughts become reality. If you let self-doubt creep into your head and start developing a negative thought and attitude you’ve already assured 50% failure even before trying. Such is the magnitude of our own thoughts and attitude. A positive attitude attracts positivism and success into our lives.
Now that we know the benefits of a positive attitude, the next question is how to develop it? The next article would enlist just that. Keep reading.
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