When the glass is half-full: The benefits of living with a positive attitude

"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."  (Winston Churchill)

Attending college is an awesome and wonderful experience, yet it causes a lot of anxiety and worry for many students.  You may worry about being able to cut it, whether you've got what it takes to see it all the way through to graduation (let alone to the end of the semester).  In a nutshell...

Having a positive attitude helps you to cope more easily with the rigors and responsibilities of college and the daily affairs of your personal life. Being positive brings optimism into your experience, and makes it easier to avoid worry and negative thinking. If you adopt it as a way of thinking and behaving, a positive attitude will bring constructive changes into your life, and make them happier, brighter and more successful. With a positive attitude you see the bright side of life, become optimistic and expect the best to happen. It is certainly a state of mind that is well worth developing and strengthening.

A positive attitude manifests in the following ways: 

• Positive thinking.
• Constructive thinking.
• Creative thinking.
• Expecting success.
• Optimism.
• Motivation to accomplish your goals.
• Being inspired.
• Choosing happiness.
• Not giving up.
• Looking at failure and problems as blessings in disguise.
• Believing in yourself and in your abilities.
• Displaying self-esteem and confidence.
• Looking for solutions.
• Seeing opportunities.

A positive attitude leads to happiness and success and can change your whole life. If you look at the bright side of life, it will impact everything you do. This affects not only you and the way you look at the world, but your whole environment and the people around you...it becomes contagious.

"Yeah, right.  What's in it for me?"

• Helps achieving goals and attaining success.
• Success achieved faster and more easily.
• More happiness.
• More energy.
• Greater inner power and strength.
• The ability to inspire and motivate yourself and others.
• Fewer difficulties encountered along the way.
• The ability to overcome any difficulty.
• Life smiles at you.
• People respect you.

A negative attitude says: you cannot achieve success.  A positive attitude says: You can.

If you've been struggling with a negative attitude, expecting (and experiencing) failure and difficulties, it's now time to change the way you think. You can get rid of negative thoughts and behavior and replace them with ones that are positive and hopeful. You can start today.  Right now.  (If you have tried before and failed, try again.)

Where do you start?

• Choose to be happy.
• Make a list of everything you're good at.  Practice telling other people about your many talents!
• Make a list of all of your accomplishments and feel proud!
• Look at the bright side of life.  What have you got going for you?
• Choose to be and stay optimistic.
• Find reasons to smile more often. (Added benefit:  less wrinkles when you smile!)
• Have faith in yourself...focus on what you can do!
• Surround yourself with happy, hopeful and positive people.  Keep away from people who put you down and don't believe in you.
• Read inspiring stories.  (Start here.)
• Read inspiring quotes.  (Try some of these.)
• Repeat affirmations that inspire and motivate you.  (Dr. Wayne Dyer is awesome.)
• Visualize only those positive goals and dreams you want to happen. (Make a Vision Board.)
• Learn to control your thoughts.  Say (to yourself and out loud) "I can..." and "I will..."
• Learn concentration and meditation.

Start with baby steps.  One day at a time.  Celebrate your small successes in the process.  Following even only one of the above suggestions will bring you a bit closer to a glass that's half-full.

(c) 2011 Robyn M Posson