Accentuate the Positive

Up until this past year, I had always considered myself a little on the "glass is half empty" side of things. A little skeptical...a little morose...
I really wanted to be a more optimistic person but was sure I just "wasn't the type".
At that time in my life pain was a great motivator for me. When things got bad enough and the pain of being so negative got great enough, I decided to try to change my perspective.

So, I started surrounding myself with people who were more "the glass is half full" types...if you're lucky, you know the ones I mean...kind, humble, positive, considerate, and generally happy with themselves and their lives? Ya, they were the people who had what I wanted out of life. So I've been trying to learn what I can from them and then practice doing the things that will bring me happiness.

I also have been learning to dismiss the negativity in my head, literally. I had to learn that all of that "old crap" that I try to tell myself is just that, crap. It is totally irrelevant because each new experience if different. So, I try to treat those thoughts as background noise or static if you will.

Since I have been practicing this new kind of thinking it has taught me that I can re-program my own thoughts and choose to be who I want to be regardless of who I think I am.

So today, at least for me, it means I need to accentuate the positive in each situation and give as little attention as possible to the self defeating thoughts that come to mind .