The Power of Positive Thinking

by Norman Vincent Peale

My greatest progress dates from the night you told me that ‘every day is good if you pray’. I began to put into practice the idea of affirming that this would be a good day the minute I woke up in the morning, and I can positively say that I have not had a bad or upsetting day since that time. The amazing thing is that my days actually haven’t been any smoother or any more free from petty annoyances than they ever were, but they just don’t seem to have the power to upset me any more. Every night I begin my prayers by listing all the things for which I am grateful, little things that happened during the day which added to the happiness of my day. I know that this habit had geared my mind to pick out the nice things and forget the unpleasant ones. The fact that for six weeks I have not had a single bad day and have refused to get downhearted with anyone is really marvellous to me.”