The longer I live, the more convinced I am that having a positive mindset boosts your life and impacts your overall health and well-being. When you are able to see challenges as opportunities and setbacks as learning experiences, it creates in your psyche a fundamental paradigm that will inspire you to engage in a spirit of determination destined for a preferred level of achievement and wellbeing.

There are literally thousands of books and untold numbers of articles that discuss the value of positive thinking. Noted positive-oriented authors such as Napoleon Hill, Zig Ziglar, Norman Vincent Peale, Les Giblin, Dale Carnegie, and Earl Nightingale set the stage for so many of today’s positive focus promoters and their proclamations of how to face the challenges of life. While the approaches may be different, the basic intentions are well established. There are common themes that have been conveyed for more than 100 years.

I have found there are eight (8) common themes found in all positive mindset offerings. While the titles or emphasis may vary in tone, the essence of focus remains constant. The offerings are:

• The glass is half-full, not half-empty.
• There are no problems, only opportunities.
• Focus on solutions, don’t praise problems.
• It is easier to smile versus frown.
• Positive self-talk makes a valuable difference.
• Strive to always associate with positive-minded people.
• Learn to laugh.
• Find a positive and exploit it every day.

How you see your surroundings or your situation greatly impacts how you will act and what you will likely convey to others. Examining your environment while focusing on the better side of best will greatly enhance your mental determination to always view things from the “glass being half-full, not half-empty.”

This concept is not new. It is a well-known view that has proven to be highly effective in motivating individuals to display energizing optimism. Think for a moment, if we were trapped on a desert island and you suddenly had a case of appendicitis and it worsened, you would need help. If I were to tell you, “No worries, I have been studying to be a medic and I feel certain that I can operate and take care of this for you.” Now while there may be a concern, at least you would have hope. It is most likely you had rather me be positive about your issue in the way I presented it versus, looking at you and proclaiming, “I’m sorry but most likely you are going to die.” Viewing a challenging situation in a positive manner will always be more effective than viewing circumstances in a negative mindset. It’s human nature. The emotional good helps the body and mind to overcome the potential bad.

Richard Gaylord Bailey said, “…positive thinkers are not the majority. In the coffee of life, they are only the cream, enriching and lightening the rest of the cup. At least, they don’t get so many lumps these days.” So, it all boils down to perspective. You will most always see what you expect to see. Strive to see the positive, the glass being half-full is much more encouraging than seeing the glass half-empty. Don’t allow yourself to be drawn into what has been proclaimed, “the negative hall of fame.” As Daniel L. Reardon proclaimed, “In the long run, the pessimist may be proven right, but the optimist has a better time on the trip.” 

Problems always seem to be at the forefront of many undertakings. They are often regarded as unwelcome or harmful and needing to be dealt with and overcome. Opportunities are a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something. It is strange that one actually feeds the other. But as you dig deeper, it will become clear that there are no problems, only opportunities.

It has been said that we are all faced with many great opportunities that readily come disguised as impossibilities. The challenge most often faced is to recognize this and then strive to “pluck the rose from the thorns.” Edward Lowe produced a clay-based material that was an ideal product to help garages and related businesses soak up oil and grease spills. It worked satisfactorily, but there were other products that were more reliable.

While in a discussion with a friend as he voiced his disgust, he was asked if he felt his compound would work to enable the friend’s cat to not track his litter all over the house. After trying it, it worked so well that Lowe knew he had an excellent option. He started visiting pet stores offering his compound and the rest is history. Edward Lowe’s compound provided over 40% of a then $400 million cat-box filler market. He certainly “plucked the rose from the thorns.”

Sales training specialist Gerhard Gschwandtner said, “People who cling to illusions seldom embrace opportunities.” Opportunity then, can either be grasped or lost. There are no limits to opportunity. People professing problems often lack the courage to move beyond the limiting factor of what they align their mind to perceive. They are unable to create opportunities from the possibilities that surround them and thus stay secluded from potential impactful discoveries.

There is a long-held story in the sales world of two researchers who were sent to a less-developed country by one of the top shoe manufacturers. After some time in the country, a telegram report arrived at the corporate offices from one of the researchers. The dispatch read, “No market here. No one wears shoes.” Later, another dispatch arrived from the other researcher, “Great market here. Nobody has any shoes.” The old adage of “…some see opportunities, others don’t” quite often prevails. Clearly, opportunity is found by those looking for it. If, however, you only see problems and your mind is closed, you will never make it happen. As Sun-tzu said, “One cannot afford to neglect opportunity.”

It has been often said that when one door closes, another opens. The issue with that too often is that our focus is so much on the closed door that we cannot see the crack of the new door opening. To create a strong on-going positive attitude and focus, it is imperative that you seek solutions and not praise problems.

If you listen to the numerous news reports, read multiple news accounts and follow the words of diverse political and governmental proponents, they want to spend their time elaborating on the problems before them because they feel this draws great attention. This attention enhances the problem’s potential but also sidetracks its solutions because that does not always draw as much attention. Once you have the problem before you, it is no longer necessary to enforce its position. It is time to find a solution.

Seeking solutions is not an easy task. Why? It demands thought, planning, and taking action so that a pathway to concluding what is challenging has been either eliminated or accommodated. Many people simply do not want to exercise the time nor effort in this undertaking because it is more comfortable to continue harboring the challenge at hand. In fact, it opens a parallel environment that feeds upon its negativity. The more havoc that can be displayed enhances the center-stage impact its providers seek. It is not an issue of beginning to find a much-needed solution but to never begin and continue to keep the challenge on a heightened life support.

In the realm of what’s needed, solutions matter. They give credence to a positive approach to rectify unwanted challenges that are limiting the opportunity for an effective conclusion and a path forward. There is always a solution if it is actively sought. It may not be perfect and it may not be absolutely correct. However, it will be a step toward a more dynamic perspective necessary for making things work.

George Eliot said, “Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles. What do we live for if not to make the world less difficult for each other?” It is easier to smile versus frown. When you frown, you must use forty-two muscles. Smiling can take as few as seventeen. Simply put, it is tougher to frown than to smile. So, why not take advantage of what is easy and brings greater long-term value? As the saying goes, “Smile and the world smiles with you…”. It all begins with a personal decision to wear a smile.

Smiles open you to positive mindsets. More directly, when you can smile about yourself, you will be able to overcome so many of the negative impact that life often throws our way. Think for a moment about those simply awkward experiences you have lived through. All those times you felt life had ended and that nothing would ever be right. Close your eyes and reflect back. You can shake your head and reflect on how crazy you were at the time. I recall a time when I split my pants as I played in a baseball game at Virginia Tech University. I bent over to dust off the plate and popped those pants as if someone had taken a razor and cut the seam. Embarrassing at the time, even though it brought smiles to many and lessened tension, as I think about that moment now I can’t do anything but smile. In so many ways, that one instance greatly “humanized” me in ways that I cannot explain. I guess the best medicine is to learn to “loosen up”. Smiles allow us to do that.

Smiles are the preview that opens the doors of friendship to the world. There is a Persian Proverb that declares, “We come into this world crying while all around us are smiling. May we so live that we go out of this world smiling while everybody around us is weeping.” Force a smile even when you don’t feel like it and you invite the power of positive purpose to take root. Give that smile to others and soon you will infect all who come in contact with its dynamics. When all other avenues have been exhausted and the end seems to be rushing toward you, smile. It’s the gift to the world that keeps on giving.

Positive self-talk makes a valuable difference. The mind believes what it hears. That is why it is so important that when you speak to yourself, you do not bring forward any negative thoughts whether spoken or mentally presented. You only want positive thoughts and dialogue to occupy your mind’s storage closet.

Dr. Norman Vincent Peale in his book, The Power of Positive Thinking, points out that positive attitudes are more important than facts. He also said, “…practice thinking confident thoughts, make it a dominating habit, and you will develop such a strong sense of capacity that regardless of what difficulties arise you will be able to overcome them. Feelings of confidence actually induce increased strength. ” When you feed your mind with such powerful words you will soon begin to see yourself, your work, your community and even your challenges in a much more inviting manner. You will move from a position of worry and fear to a state of direction toward solutions. Challenges will become opportunities and disappointments will become the springboard to new, more fruitful possibilities.

Just as worry will never add one day to your life, negative thoughts will never bring positive results. Any time that a negative thought tries to implant itself within your mental pathway, counter that thought with positive and optimistic input. Being positive and optimistic are great things. It is much like the story of the optimist and pessimist and their view on each day. An optimist looks out the window at the break of each day and says, “Good morning, God.” The pessimist looks out the window and says, “Good God, morning.” How we see things and how we approach what is laid before us will greatly determine our mental inertia to act in a manner that leads to some measure of positive and needed results.

When you fill your mind with negative input, everything and everyone that comes in contact with you will be impacted by that negative view. This reality will virtually destroy any substantial achievement. That is why it is vital to step aside from these thoughts and keep your posture of positive affirmation as a constant action.

• Falling short is simply finding out what does not work.
• The glass is always half-full.
• When you are confronted with stumbling blocks, turn them over and make stepping stones.
• If you are at the end of your rope, simply tie a knot and hold on.
• When you keep feeding your mind with the good, the pure the positive, you can forever change your focus and better direct your actions toward a more enjoyment life and the potential for grasping ever present opportunities.

W.W. Ziege once said, “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” Thus if you have to choose, would you rather have your focus toward a positive outcome or would you desire to have your focus center on a negative outcome? Feed your mind with the positive. Don’t short-circuit your mental control by allowing a catabolic impasse to hold you back from achievement or fulfilling the chance for a happy life. Your positive psyche, as many studies have shown, account for over 85% of life success. Make it a great day, every day, by feeding your mind the positive affirmations often.

As we take this one step further, strive to always associate with positive-minded people. There are those individuals who I term “lounge lizards”. Their mission in life seems to be to derail those who most often take the positive side of life. Those who give their all to insure tough goals get accomplished.

One of the best examples of this situation involves the movie “Christmas Vacation” starring Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold and Beverly D’Angelo as his wife Ellen. Clark is busy covering his entire house, including parts of the front yard, with an assortment of Christmas lights. From the roof to all sides of the home, he risks life and limb to see that he has the best decorations in the neighborhood.

Ellen’s father, Art, played by E.G. Marshall, has been critical of Clark over the years. As Clark is finishing his work, testing and retesting the lighting set-up until it finally works, it comes on with such force that it demands the power company, through emergency switches, supply emergency power! As the family stands outside admiring the great work Clark has done, Art comes over and says, “The little lights are now twinkling, Clark”. Clark responds, “I know Art and knew you would catch that.” Even though perhaps 10,000 lights were working, Art chose to focus on the 100 that were not doing what they were supposed to do. Art is the classic example of a “lounge lizard.” He always seems to enhance the worst in every situation. These people literally suck the energy out of everyone and everything. They thrive on being on the “down side of life.” And they seek to pull along anyone they can in the process.

Associating with positive-minded people helps you maintain a more energetic view of life. Life is not perfect. Problems abound for even the most positive individuals. Those who take a positive approach to how they face life and its challenges are better able to provide an effective mentorship for those who are seeking an anabolic alternative to life’s cascading adventures.

The difficulties of life regularly demand we seek solace in some capacity so that we can “repair” those “bruises” that come from constant barrages of negative and problem-focused interactions. Having a support group of those who have the mindset that failure or setback is simply finding out that something does not work, brings a strong sense of hope that is the foundation for getting the most benefit from life. Further, these positive warriors will help you to better know and hold yourself in esteem. That reality is a foundational demand for positive thinking and is quite evident with those who are known to be “positive.”

It is vital to associate with those who possess the mental determination to allow positive approaches to dictate their actions. Whether friends, family, business associates or others, never allow negative talk or actions of “lounge lizards” to limit you from seeing the “sunnier” side of life and accomplishing things that others have told you were impossible. Strive to always associate with positive-minded people and you are better able to live life more abundantly.

To live life to its fullness, you must learn to laugh. A Mayo Clinic study showed that laughter enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air. It stimulates your vital organs such as your heart, lungs and also your muscles. It further increases the endorphins that are released by your brain. Other studies have shown that laughter can increase your life by up to 8 years.

When you are happy, you tend to experience better health. Your immune system benefits from laughter as it stimulates and increases the cells that fight off infections. The facts of its medical benefits goes on and on. Truly, laughter is the best medicine for life.

Dr. Norman Cousins, in his best-selling book, Anatomy of an Illness, used humor to address his horrible illness. He found that ten minutes of good belly laughter gave him two hours of pain-free sleep. Before that discovery, even under heavy medication, his pain in the spine and joints prevented him from getting any sleep. Dr. Cousins eventually recovered and confirmed that laughter was one of the primary sources of his healing.

It has been said that laughter distracts your attention, changes your attitude, brightens your outlook on life, relaxes you, and stimulates the natural painkillers in the body. Every time you laugh, stress is lowered. An unknown provider once said, “Love makes the world go round, but it’s laughter that keeps us from getting dizzy.”

There was another study done that detailed preschoolers laugh up to 450 times a day. Adults laugh an average of 15 times a day. From a health standpoint, who would you say might have a better health standing? Sometimes you have to lighten up, think on the “funny side of life” and not worry about the sale you lost or the store shipping you the wrong size dress. We need to learn to loosen up and think, “How would an eight-year-old respond?” Even if you can’t laugh in these moments, the thought can surely brighten your day.

Happiness most often comes to those who look for it. I once read that happiness in itself is not a possession that many search for. To its end though, it is a blessing that we gain in all that we experience. The final resolve is that you should experience happiness in the moment where you are. As John Rogers and Peter McWilliams said, “Happiness is looking at all the good and bad in any given moment—both within us and around us—and then choosing to focus upon the good.” We are in control of our own happiness. Laugh daily and create good will, improved health, longevity, and an appealing attitude of warmth that can be shared with all you meet. As famed humorist Will Rogers once noted, “We are all here for a spell; get all the good laughs you can.”

Finally, it is imperative to find a positive and exploit it every day. There are countless challenges that will appear in your life and no one is immune from the impact. You can accept the fate of failure, disappointment and other related shortfalls, sink into discouragement and live your life in pain. You can also accept the fate of failure, disappointment and other related shortfalls and understand that with each experience, you are gaining knowledge, finding a better way to confront what lies ahead of you and live your life in positive assurance that you are growing and using those challenges as stepping stones toward greater success. Negativism or a positive lifestyle is a choice not a requirement.

There are numerous offerings from a host of so called “positive thinking” experts that will provide you with diverse ways to keep your mind and your focus on the positive. All have value IF they are applied. From a personal standpoint, you have to find what works best for you. You can’t worry about what may work for friends, family or business associates. Whether that focus brings you to repeating what you are thankful for daily or taking a positive result and enhancing that result to build confidence, commitment and workable determination, allow that selection to be your guiding star toward betterment in life.

It is not challenging to find positive things to focus on. There are numerous things that we take for granted such as our health, homes, work, friends, family, food, clothing, heating in winter, cooling in summer, a vehicle to drive or other means to transport. The list is endless. Just as disappointment is a choice, so is a positive mindset. John Homer Miller perhaps says it best, “Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens. Circumstances and situations do color life but you have been given the mind to choose what the color shall be.”

Now the real work begins. You have been given eight (8) sound common themes as it pertains to a positive mindset. What you choose to do will determine whether or not you have been influenced by what you have read and have committed to taking action. Talk is common but action is what truly matters. People will listen to what you say but more closely watch what you do. Norman Vincent Peale once proclaimed, “Be a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see the possibilities—always see them, for they’re always there.” So, it is time to choose. Choose the positives and build what you will experience into flourishing opportunities to gain the best that life will provide. Remember, it is your choice!