Positive thinking

won't let you do everything,

but it will let you do anything,

better than negative thinking will."

By Johann Campbell

South African IBO affiliated with Harteis International

It has often been said that all you have to do is think positively and all your problems will disappear. Well, anyone who says that is likely to lie about other stuff too.

Thinking positively will not make your problems disappear, but it will put you in an emotional state that lets you deal with your problems. Negative thinking puts you in a state where your problems deal with you.

A negative person tends to "awfulise" and interprets incidents as

Personal – Why me? What have I done to deserve this? They tend to see everything as a personal attack. They feel as if the world is out to get them. Negative people tend to be very self-conscious, always worried about what, they think, other people think or say about them.

They tend to act as if it is;

Pervasive – This always happens to me. Everybody hates me. A negative person goes for counselling. "Everybody hates me" he moans to the counsellor. "Don't be silly" says the counsellor "Everybody hasn't met you yet".

They think that this state is;

Permanent – What else can you expect, this is the way it is.

Negative people have an attitude of negative expectancy and tend to expect the worst in every situation. They live in a state of doubt and fear.

Positive people tend to "rationalise" and accept that they are;

Involved, but realise that the incident was seldom specifically aimed at them. They realise that the person did not get up this morning with the specific intent of spoiling their day.

Positive people see incidents as;

Isolated, they realise that these things seldom happen, and they accept that things will not always go their way. They realise that while there are problems there are always solutions.

Positive people see "negative" incidents as a mere;

Interruption, in their plans. They are aware of difficulties but believe that they can be overcome, they choose to learn from each situation.

Positive people have an attitude of positive expectancy and tend to live confidently, knowing that they can grow bigger because of the problems that they face.

So choose from today to be positive but understand that "Positive thinking won't let you do everything but it will let you do anything better than negative thinking will."