Start Your Day on a Positive Note

 

Some people would consider me a pretty positive person, others may not, but I certainly try my best to be positive, unfortunately like most humans there are a lot of negative things that happen in my life. I’m not special, my bad days are no worse than anyone else’s, I just tend to take them to heart a little more.

I put forth a lot of effort to try to make my days a lot brighter, though, and a lot of the time as long as I start my day on a positive note it seems like when crappy things occur I can try to flash back to the thing I did that morning that put me in a good mood to at least start my day.

While I was driving bus during the school year one of the things I would do would be to get up early, have a cup of coffee and search the internet for life lessons to put on my bus. If I happened to stumble across a brief story that helped me to leave the house in a more positive frame of mind, all the better! But you can’t control the other people in your life, and their attitudes.

When I would get down to the bus garage I would generally walk in with a smile on my face, ready to face the day, but I would also meet someone who thought it was strange to see someone so happy so early and he would generally ask if something was wrong with me or say something along the lines of why are you so happy this early?!

That has the ability to change your mood right away. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in this, but I spend an awful lot of time in my own head and when someone makes a comment like that it’s tough to keep on track with trying to keep myself in that positive mood. We really shouldn’t let other people affect us this much but unfortunately it’s inevitable.

The people you work with, or even just encounter during your day, make up your experiences and your experiences affect your moods and your memories. Staying positive requires positive thinking and it’s hard to think positive when you surround yourself with negative people. So you must choose who to spend your quality time with wisely.

You can’t choose the people you work with (unless you hire all the individuals), but even then, people are different and you can’t predict how they’re going to act in certain situations before they have a chance to experience those situations. The thing that you need desperately to do is to choose positive individuals to spend your “quality time” with. This is the time away from work, when you do the things that make you who you are.

I have been lucky enough to have a great group of people that I call my friends. Summers are tough because I don’t get to see them a lot but these friends are the type that make an effort to come out to see me and even if we don’t see each other for months on end, the second we can get back together, we’re right back to where we were at our peak of friendship, and for the most part…they’re all extremely positive people!

One of the things we try to do every year, away from work, is play in a co-ed volleyball league at one of our favorite watering holes. The group we play with and against are awesome individuals…and even though we may get a little cocky from time to time, it’s generally good natured and we are also the first to laugh at how bad we can be as well. Thankfully the people we play with and against make the whole experience fun as well and we generally give each other a pretty hard time and I believe we all enjoy the opportunity to let loose a little bit and enjoy a positive activity away from our day to day struggles. It’s a positive activity that we do once a week and little things like that can have a huge impact on how you react to the rest of the things that pop up throughout your week. It also gives you something to look forward to each week and activities like this can be the source of happiness if you choose them to be.

It’s crazy how something as simple as reading a positive article, or watching a positive video (I suggest Kid President) right to start your day can really set the tone for whatever comes next. You’re still going to have bad days, that’s inevitable, but when you start your day in the right direction you can begin to see the negatives throughout the day as speed bumps, or obstacles rather than a completely different path.

It's crazy, but as I get older I've started to notice that art and nature has begun to make a bigger impact on my emotions. Just by looking outside and seeing the sunshine my day begins a lot better. In a similar sense, when I see a great work of art (and "great work" is all in the eye of the beholder) I seem to be put in a more positive mood from that point forward.

One of my favorite life lessons put to art!

 

Try to maintain that positive attitude you began your day with, remember that on the other side of the obstacle you face, is the path you want to return to. Work to get through the obstacles and try to do so in the same positive light that you began your day with, it may be easier said than done, but I guarantee it’s worth the effort.

We all have two options when faced with diversity: either give up or keep going. Those of you that decide to keep going will always have positive memories to look back at when you face your next obstacle, the ones that give up may just make that into a habit.

Start every day in a positive light, you can’t control everything that will come at you throughout your day but you can try to control how you handle the situations. If you’re getting frustrated with something; step back, take a few breaths, try to reason it out in your head, then regroup and give the problem another shot. Yelling, screaming, and getting down on yourself has never accomplished anything.

Stay positive to the best of your ability. Life will work to bring you down but as the great Jim Valvano said, “Don't Give Up...Don't Ever Give Up!!!"