The Power of the Positive

During an era with so much unsettling news, the BP oil spill, a yo-yoing Dow Jones, less-than-virtuous politicians and celebrities who are equally less than virtuous (but heck, at least they are entertaining), it is easy to feel like we are all are stuck in a downward spiral.

While growing up, a dear friend and mentor to me, spoke often of self-fulfilling prophecies, and how negative thinking could easily create a negative outcome. “Focus on the positive,” she would say to me, “and your outcomes will be different.”

While the woes of adults are different than the certainty I had that I would fail my algebra test (although at the time you never could have convinced me), the mantra of Mrs. Bur—to focus on the positive—is something I still try to keep as a strong and vital part of my everyday life as an adult.

I am afraid as a society we have become addicted to the negativity. Today in my frustration with the negative headlines, I went in search of something a little different and found the “Good News Network.” It is an online site that offers all of the headlines in the news, business, top stories of the day and even celebrity news, but from a positive perspective. I noticed ads weren’t being sold on the site, and maybe never will. At least the site is making a go of it and trying something a little different.

Taking the first step to change the way you look at the world is often the hardest thing to do. Once you have motivated yourself into motion, something wonderful happens. Momentum builds and less energy is needed to take the next step, and the next step and the next. With such a tumultuous past couple of years, I am sure we have all built up some skepticism. And even me, the one with the glass always half-full, has had some recent doubts with what our businesses and households have had to face.