Applying Positive Thinking
About Your Life

Positive thinking about your life is helpful to put anything in perspective and to balance what we normally think are terrible situations.

You can use positive thinking to create a better life.

Positive thinking about your life

Use positive thinking for these areas of your life:

• For your current situation: if something is "not quite right" in your life at present, you can choose to think that all is well and all has a reason to be there.

  It can even be fun to find the positive side to a negative situation!

  For example, if you have difficult circumstances (problems at work, or at home, whatever it may be) you can choose to experience joy for the fact that you are getting stronger.

• For your past: if you carry an emotional wound because of something that happened to you in the past, you can choose to think that what is done is done, and cannot be changed.

  Then, it is pointless to grieve for something you cannot do anything about.

  Rather, you can focus on the fact that from that sad past situation you learned a good lesson (which only you know).

  You also grew stronger, and furthermore you would probably be able to give good advice to someone going through the same experience.

• For your future: if you tend to think that something terrible is going to happen, or fear that the future hides difficulties and problems for you, then use positive thinking about your life to change the direction of your thoughts.

  You can instead choose to think that everything is well now and is coming even better.

  Yes, you will still face difficulties, but also you will also have grown in strength and wisdom to deal with the situation and learn from it, whenever it comes.

  You could also go back to your past for a moment and list all those situations that were challenging and that you overcame successfully: from a difficult test to a relationship break-up or a stressful family situation.

  You may have done better than you thought you would.

  Besides, you can think of all the surprises and good experiences that are still to come.

  The more you think your present to be good, the better your future will be too. Positive thinking about your life can help you shape a wonderful future.

  Anyhow, don't spend too much time thinking about the past or the future: enjoy living in the present.

• To deal with worries: most of the times we tend to worry about a situation that will never happen.

  For example, if you receive a couple of large bills, perhaps your mind goes into scarcity and worry mode and you start thinking "I'm not gonna have enough money", "Tight situation", "I'm so going bankrupt".

  Now, what do you gain by worrying? Either you do something about the situation to prevent what you fear the most from happening, either you don't.

  Sitting still worrying about it all doesn't help you a bit.

  The Dalai Lama talks about worrying in "The art of happiness": "If the situation or problem is such that it can be remedied, then there is no need to worry about it. [...] Alternatively, if there is no way out, no solution, no possibility of resolution, then there is also no point in being worried about it, because you can't do anything about it anyway."

• To accept. Imagine how it would be like if you could accept everything that is rather than fighting against it.

  Imagine how much less stress you would have if instead of being so upset because so and so happened, you just said "Oh, well" and dealt with it the best way possible, always focusing on the best outcome.

  Thing is, most of us need to "have things under control" and have reality delivered to us in a certain way.

  When things don't go our way, we get upset (from not finding a parking place, to a friend not replying to an email, to plans being dropped, or anything else you can think of). In this regard, "Living by Zen" by Brenda Shoshanna teaches us a different approach to life.

  Try this exercise for a couple of days to really apply positive thinking about your life: accept all that is.

  Don't judge it, don't take part, just accept it. Accept it happily if you can. You will notice how the quality of your life increases because you don't get upset as much.

Apply these key points of positive thinking about your life and enjoy a life of calmness and great possibilities.

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