I started to write a blog post about this topic last night but I was so tired, that my brain began to shut down. I’d look at a sentence I’d just typed and it was disjointed nonsense. This was a good sign that I needed to shut myself down and go to bed. Much better to start on the topic again today.
All month long, I’ve thought about things that I’m grateful for, and there are a lot of them. Today I’m musing about how good it’s been for me to pay attention to this things, to let myself really feel them and also to take the time to acknowledge them. Just like it has helped me recently to say the words out loud that I choose recovery each day, the daily expressions of gratitude are good for me.
I believe that this fosters a positive attitude. Often the bad things that happen, or the situations that upset us, clamor more loudly for attention. They stay more in the forefront. Dwelling in the negative brings us down mentally, emotionally and, I think, physically. I’d rather live in the house of happy.
It’s good to reinforce a positive attitude and approach. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being a cheerleader for ourselves in our own lives. We can set our intention and speak our choices aloud. Will there be days that the best intention of maintaining a positive attitude isn’t strong enough to withstand some crap that might get flung in our general direction? Sure. This is life, after all, which is far from always perfect. However, if we start out by trying to boost the positive, we have a better shot at staying ahead of, or being strong than, the negative.
I know for a fact that if I wake up thinking that the day is going to suck, I’ve set myself up for self-fulfilling prophecy. I’d rather concentrate on manifesting good and let that be the self-fulfilling path for the day. This approach makes me stronger and happier. It leads to greater success with my food plan and exercise commitment, helps me rock my job and other commitments. I’m sure it makes me a better friend and family member and overall just a more pleasant person to be around.
All in all, I feel positively healthy and you can bet I’m grateful for that every single day.
Weighty Matters 
Same path I’m on these days, Mary Stella. Helps to read it’s shared.
Interesting that you talk about feeling and being positive. I’ve wrestled with this topic for a few years now, and lately positive may have begun to get the upper hand.
My response to the experiences of my life was to become warier and warier of being positive and hopeful. I’ve been smacked down in huge ways rather a lot. After Mom died, well, it seemed there was nothing left in the world to be positive about.
But my friends, and my therapists, told me and showed me I was wrong. I’ve been putting in a lot of work lately on trying to focus more on the positive than the negative and I think I am feeling better (and it’s not just due to a “helper” med that I recently went on, either; it feels different than drug-related mood elevation).
It’s not easy to be positive and hopeful; it takes courage and will and strength, because life is hard and complicated. Your positivity and all-around optimism are inspiring and beautiful to observe. I’m grateful that you have this outlook and that you are healthy and happy.