How to Know If You're a Positive Thinker

Your thoughts are either positive or negative; there is no neutral!


“Positive thinking is just another way to deny the realities of life,” said my friend Lucy one Sunday morning on the way to Starbucks. “They can’t accept that the world is full of pain and suffering. They’d go down in flames laughing!”

But Lucy has it wrong (except for the laughing part). Positive thinkers are not pie-in-the-sky optimists yet they are quite optimistic. Their feet are planted firmly on the ground while their imaginations are free to create. They know without doubt that creativity is at least as important as practicality and cold hard facts. Positive thinkers--of every persuasion--display certain characteristics. See how many of them apply to you. You just might be one of us! Read on...

• Positive thinkers take excellent care of themselves physically, mentally, spiritually.
• They assume responsibility for their actions and get over disappointments rapidly.
• They are trustworthy and deeply honor their personal, business, and professional relationships.
• They know they have high potential and live into it continually.
• They have learned how to communicate well in all areas of their lives.
• They know that real love is compassion in action; they are empathetic more than sympathetic.
• They enjoy life, laugh a lot, and have fun. When necessary, they work hard and enjoy the benefits. And they're not afraid to share those benefits.
• They are life-long learners. The vast majority of successful people would call themselves positive thinkers.

A lot more can be said of positive thinkers but the above short list covers the major basics. I don’t ask you to live up to anything on the list. Simply consider them. What might be your personal benefit for working some of the practices into your own daily walk? (#1: You’ll smile more.)

Positive thinking is more than a list. It's a way of life, a commitment. It's a habit that must be cultivated continuously. It begins again, every morning when you look into the mirror.

And it is, more than anything, a choice.

“First we make our habits; then our habits make us.” Charles C. Noble


P.S. We all have our 'down' moments. And sometimes things can get really tough. I do not deny that. Still, and maybe especially, in those moments, our true character and level of strength show themselves. The more you choose to practice some of the above suggestions, the less likely you'll collapse when the really big rough situations arise.