Be a Positive Person

The Ways We Save 3 These Are a Few of My Favourite Things

Be a Positive Person

We live by mantras in our house. I use these mantras to help my kids lock and load on really important concepts. One of the things we're always talking about is "seeing the donut, not the hole." It's all about being grateful for what we have instead of looking at what is missing.

So the other day I was doing an interview and I was asked, "How do you stay so positive?" Truthfully, I focus on the positive because the alternative sucks donkeys.

I smile as often as I can. If you've ever encountered me in person, you know that I have an outrageously loud laugh. I love to laugh. And I think smiling puts you in a position to laugh because it keeps you in the right mindset. I know smiling is contagious because when I smile at people they smile back. (Some look a little shocked sometimes, but eventually the smile creeps onto their faces.) And when you smile you boost your own sense of wellbeing.

I'm even working at smiling in repose. Y'know how when you're just thinking, or just sitting watching TV or reading, not really animated, your face can fall… gravity pulls the edges of your mouth down. I've watch people of a certain (advanced) age sitting in repose with the corners of their mouths pointing south. I don't want to have that expression on my face – or the message that expression sends to my brain – so I'm practicing smiling in repose.

I say yes as often as I can. Nothing shuts down the flow of energy faster than a "No." That's not to say that "no" should be eschewed; "no" is a very useful word. But "yes, but" works too. And yes keeps opportunities open. If I have to say no, and believe me I do, I try to wrap it in a "thank you but" to keep the positivity flowing.

I'm always learning. I find learning something new one of the most invigorating things I can do for my optimism. As soon as my brain gets a hold of something new it does a happy dance and my whole being radiates. So I keep challenging myself to learn new things.

If you make it a mission to see the donut and not the hole, you might be surprised at just how positively you're perceived. Even when the crap hits the fan, look for the upside. When I had to leave my beautiful home in the country because my marriage ended and we had to sell, I countered the sense of loss with positive things I could focus on: the shorter commute to get the kids to school meant I had an extra two hours a day to do new things. The fact that my home was no longer heated by a big wood furnace meant I didn't have to start my day chucking wood.

So have you had experiences where looking on the bright side helped you through a rough patch? And how do you keep yourself positive?