When you are predominantly negative in your life, things tend to be looking down – your moods are bad, you often have low energy, you look at problems without solutions. You wonder why there are so many negatives you need to face. For instance, I could conclude that I don’t need to work out. Why should I do anything constructive with my time? I’ve got a TV to watch. I’ve got a couch to lay on, and I got my bed to lie in. As a result, you get complacent with a pessimistic behavior. Everything that may challenge you seems hard as if it won’t work or is irrelevant.
In contrast, with an entirely optimistic viewpoint, you can lose touch with reality. Take for example, one of those old TV series where everything is all happy and hunky dory, and there’s not a negative side. Well, what if disaster struck? They would be lost because they don’t live in a world of reality; they don’t live in the real world and face real-life struggles.
Optimism is a beautiful thing. However, to make it realistic, a combination of pessimism and optimism is necessary. You must identify the problems that you may face and come in with a viable solution. Only after that, can you put it into action, which is the recipe that you want to live by. When you hone this skill, and it becomes second nature to you, you will always make it no matter what life throws at you.
Let’s get personal. I received a life sentence without parole at the age of 20. Instead of letting this crush me, I continued to move forward. I keep fighting my appeals as well as working to put myself in a position to be ready for clemency, parole, or any other avenues. I refuse and won’t give up. Sure enough, that sounds easy peasy, but it required a lot of determination, confidence, and strength, which was hard to accumulate. But over the years, I’ve grown (and continue to grow) to remind myself that my attitude and perception of a situation can dictate the results. Moving forward is the only direction to go in, be it small or big steps… or even just looking into the right direction itself!
So in conclusion, what I mean by turning a negative into a positive is about attitude. You need to identify the problem or recognize the negative. You must not succumb to pessimism. You have to look for ways to solve the problem, to find solutions. With this, not only will you become much more successful in life, you will find happiness.