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Are you a POSITIVE or NEGATIVE person? Do you see the glass half full or half empty? What about your friends, who do you hang out with? Do you get motivated by them or depressed with them?
Have you ever been around someone that just sucked the life out of you with their negativity? What did you do about it? Did you try to cheer that person up or did you wallow in depression with them?
Being around negative people is not fun and quite honestly it is not good for you.
I recently read a book about a dog that was wallowing in self-pity because he was in a kennel and nobody would adopt him. He met another dog in the kennel and that dog set him straight. He told him that of course nobody wants to adopt him because he is feeding the negative dog inside of him.
What does that mean? It means that each and everyone of us has a positive dog and a negative dog inside of us and whichever one we give the most attention to is the one that is going to shine!
A positive dog is: happy, optimistic, hopeful, and a joy to be with.
A negative dog is: mad, sad, pessimistic, jealous, and fearful.
Which are you?
What are some benefits of being positive? Research shows that being positive makes us healthier. It makes us live longer and improves our relationships. It makes us better leaders and leads us to greater success in all aspects of life.
Being positive is as simple as a SMILE! I love this quote from the book: “Waiting for something to make you smile is like sitting in a dark room waiting for someone to turn on the light switch. But making yourself smile is like turning on a light inside of you!”
Another great way to be positive is GRATITUDE. We ALL have something to be grateful for! It can be a roof over our head, a comfy bed to sleep in, a hot meal, fresh air, flowers, a refreshing glass of water and of course our dogs! If you want to SMILE and start your day on a POSITIVE note then take a gratitude walk. Every morning take a short walk around the block and say to yourself what you are thankful for. You will see what happens! “Abundance flows into your life when gratitude flows out of your heart”.
Change you words. Instead of saying I “Have to” do something like exercise, go to work, eat healthy, walk the dog, etc. tell yourself that you “Get to” do these things. If you really think about it, you don’t HAVE TO do anything. But you get to do them because you are living a POSITIVE LIFE full of amazing experiences! Every day can be a new experience if you just change your mindset!
Feel BLESSED instead of STRESSED. Do you know that you can’t feel GRATEFUL and STRESSED at the same time. So every time that you start to feel a little stressed, STOP and take a minute and think about all of the amazing things in your life that you are BLESSED with. It can be your family, friends, health, and of course your pup! Even if you are having health issues, there are MANY other things that are healthy, right? You can hear, see, speak, smell, walk, touch, etc…. Think of the POSITIVE things in your life!
Turn COMPLAINTS into SOLUTIONS. Instead of complaining how the guy you work with makes more money than you, find a way to LEARN what he knows and DO what he does so that you too can make more money. Instead of complaining that you can’t lose weight, DO something about it. Move more, eat less, get your thyroid checked, hire a trainer or health coach. FIND A SOLUTION because honestly, complaining is not going to fix the problem.
Choose FAITH instead of FEAR. Most negativity if rooted in fear. Complaining, anger, jealousy, and sadness are ultimately caused by fear that expresses itself in negative ways. Fear of the unknown causes us to protect the status quo when change would be beneficial for us. Fear of being powerless causes us to COMPLAIN. Fear of failing leads to INACTION. Fear of being hurt leads to ANGER. Fear of not being good, successful, or smart leads to JEALOUSY. Fear of not being loved leads to SADNESS. FEAR PARALYZES US from taking ACTION! But there is a solution because remember we are turning complaints into solutions! Choose FAITH over FEAR! Faith and Fear both believe in a future that hasn’t happened yet! Fear = negative future; Faith = positive future. So why not BELIEVE that you can change and have FAITH! Telling yourself that you CAN will fill you up with hope, optimism and inspiration!
There are so many ways to lead a positive life. The main thing is that you HAVE to change your mindset. Tell yourself that you CAN or you CAN’T and guess what, you are RIGHT!
You must also surround yourself with positive people that will both inspire and motivate you! You ARE the 5 people that you surround yourself with so take an honest look at who those people are. Are they sucking the air out of you or INSPIRING YOU to be a better person.
I challenge you to take ONE WEEK and CHANGE your daily routine!
- Start your day with a Gratitude Walk
- SMILE & LAUGH often
- Turn your complaints into SOLUTIONS
- Have FAITH that you can accomplish great things, start with small things and work up!
- Change your words to “I GET TO”
- Hang out with POSITIVE people that make you HAPPY!
Then get back to us and let us know how you feel after one week!
Thank you to Jon Gordon for writing “The Positive Dog“. I would suggest this easy read for anyone that you think needs a little love and inspiration. Nobody wants to be negative, pessimistic, depressed or down. Sometimes we just need a little reminder on some ideas to keep us POSITIVE!
And the good news is, the dog doesn’t die at the end! It is a HAPPY and POSITIVE ending!
