The mind is its own place and in itself can make a heaven of hell or a hell of heaven. – Milton

The power of thinking we can is not just some ideological, feel-good theory. It holds true, time and time again. Let me illustrate.

A good friend of mine, Miguel, had a major heart attack a few years back. He had been training in the same karate class as I and I knew him to be very physically fit for a man in his 40s. The heart attack came as a surprise and could have been devastatingly fatal. Thankfully, he recovered, and a couple of days after he was released from the hospital, he was back in class training with the rest of us.

How did Miguel come back with such vigor and determination? It was because he thought, “Yes, I can. I can do this and I will do this.” If a major heart attack did not set him back, the rest of us certainly do not have any excuse! Positive thinking led him to believe that he can still do what he loves, rather than focusing on why he cannot.

Some things to consider on how to think positively:

1. Choose to be positive, in light of negative situations, circumstances, and people.
2. Look for the good in people, instead of focusing on the bad. You can’t change them, but you can choose to look at them differently.
3. Be aware of your self-talk and thought processes. If you are constantly thinking to yourself, I’m stupid, I’m dumb, and I’ll never get that promotion, guess what? It will come true.
4. Realize the beauty amidst the chaos, such as how a thunderstorm, despite its wild and haphazard ways, has grace and mercy sewn through its bolts of lightening.
5. Everything that happens was meant to happen that way. Some things you just can’t control … and that’s okay. Events have been weaved into our lives as delicate as a butterfly’s wings.
6. When something doesn’t go our way, such as we don’t land the job we’ve been vying for, realize it as an opportunity to seek something else out. The job was not meant to be and you’ll live. When you do not have all that you are, i.e., your self-worth, riding on the outcome of a particular situation, then you are free to go with the flow.
7. Surround yourself with people that actually make you feel good and that you want to be around. Positive friends will make a positive impact upon your life, including your attitude, thoughts, values, experiences, ideas, etc.

When you find yourself in a storm of bad thoughts and negative feelings, grab hold of yourself and choose to stop thinking negatively. Choosing to think positively does not mean we completely ignore reality and we become instantaneous tree-huggers, green-lovers, zen-like yogis. In fact, we are more in tune with ourselves and have decided that life is too short to be sour, angry people. After all, reality is what you make it to be.

It’s up to you to make the decision of how you are going to view the world. If you don’t, someone else will.