Negatives to Positives

There are so many people that I've come across and are so full of potential. They have everything required to succeed like intuition, drive, determination, and discipline. They're lacking one thing, though: a positive attitude. 

When I first moved to San Diego, I didn't have many friends and had absolutely no intention of making any. Instead, I'd spend my lunches eating with my teachers and making friends with them. I befriended my math teacher and her student teacher that year and always looked forward to talking to them. One day, I recall, my teacher told me that she really enjoyed my company, but every time I opened up my mouth, out would come my negative attitude. This prompted me to change. 

Having a positive attitude doesn't mean being ignorant, which some might assume. Some think that positive people never see things for what they are, but that simply isn't so. 

A positive attitude means being able to see the negative and see that maybe things aren't going to play out well. You see that maybe at the end of the road it's going to be dark and with your positive attitude you turn on the light. 

Changing from a negative attitude to a positive takes time and a lot of self control. You can do some of these things to start improving your attitude:

1) Compliments: Having a positive attitude means towards other people, not just situations. Find at least one person in your day that you think could use a compliment. Making someone else feel good will make you feel good, too. 

2) Criticism means improvement: If someone tells you you're wrong or criticizes your work, don't get insulted immediately. Instead, think of how they can help you. At work, it was my turn to sweep the store. Some of my coworkers noticed that I was a bit slow and not very efficient. At first they made some witty remarks, but they showed me how they did it. I could have been insulted that they didn't like the way I swept, or I could learn. I changed the placement of my hands when I sweep because of this and now am a better sweeper upper. 

3) See the bright side: When things go downhill, many people tend to complain or give up altogether. I'm telling you now, that with a change in attitude you might not have to give up. You can win, even when you lose, if you go down with a smile. So maybe you had to work longer than you were scheduled, but hey! You'll get paid more for working more. 

Maybe you got a B on a project that you worked extra hard on, but now you'll have room to grow and improve for next time. 

Maybe you got locked out of your apartment and had to go to the leasing office to get a spare key. Now you've introduced yourself, and now any other person that claims they need a key to your place won't have a chance at getting your key. 

Maybe the chicken is overcooked and dry, but now you can make use of that BBQ sauce you wanted to try all those weeks ago. 

I'm just thinking of examples here, but I want you to see that you can turn a light on in any situation. No sense in sitting in the dark and forcing yourself to stub your toe on all the walls you can't see. Turn on the lights, because you can.