Be a Positive Person!

How do you feel after a difficult day? Maybe you just learned that you did not qualify for a college scholarship. Or a part-time job fell through that was a key part of your plan to save for Ambassador Youth Camp. Or a bunch of little things could have turned your mood negative.

When you fall into a bad attitude, you may find it hard to recover.

Yet a person who strives to stay positive as a way of life can look at these situations differently. There are other scholarships and other jobs out there. Tomorrow is another day—the difficulties of today often fade after a good night’s sleep.

You likely know individuals who never seem to get down in the dumps. No matter what hits them in life, they soldier on, usually with a smile on their faces.

What is their secret? How can you develop a positive outlook, remaining cheerful and hopeful even when faced with tough challenges?

With God’s help, staying positive while surfing the waves of daily challenges is achievable. You can come out on the other side and keep a positive outlook!

Proverbs 17:22 shows the importance of remaining optimistic: “A merry heart does good like a medicine: but a broken spirit dries the bones.” Remaining positive is so good for you that God likens it to medicine. There are practical ways to apply this verse and keep a “merry heart.”

Success Stories

What are some of the people or things that can contribute to a bad attitude if you are not careful? The list is almost endless: Classmates, siblings, teachers, workmates, friends, watching the news, the stresses of your last year in high school, or your first year in high school, and more.

These are all known triggers for getting you down. There are also things that can come out of the blue—you forgot your homework on your desk at home, a passing car splashes a huge puddle on you during your walk to school, etc.

Failures and setbacks are bound to come along. But you can prepare for them by building the right mindset. It helps to turn to examples of success stories. The Bible is filled with them.

King David had many challenges during his life. One thing he was good at, even as a young man, was trusting that God would always look out for his best interests.

David went up against the giant Philistine Goliath with only a sling and stone (I Sam. 17:50), while Goliath was armed with a sword, spear and shield.

To any observer, there seemed to be no way David could be victorious. But he remained positive and trusted that God would deliver him. In Psalm 16:8, he wrote, “I have set the Lord always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.”

The word “moved” here can mean to waver, slip, shake or fall. Think about that. God promises that if we put Him first, we can be assured we will make it through whatever we face.

Did God fulfill this in David’s life? I Samuel 17:49 says, “David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.” Against what appeared to be impossible odds, God delivered David.

To help such Bible stories have more impact, make them come alive. Think vividly about what happened. Can you picture David courageously loading the stone into his sling? When you know God has your back, you can achieve things you never thought possible! Reading these examples from God’s Word will help you stay positive.

Never forget that you are not alone. God is with you. And you have a support system in place that will help you navigate the difficulties you meet.

God, your family, your friends and your minister are all there to support you and will help you succeed. Ecclesiastes 4:12 tells us that “a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” While this verse primarily applies to physical families, the principle can expand to our spiritual family as well.

Your parents have been through many more life experiences than you have. They have a sensible view of how to deal with a variety of situations. Go to them when you feel like your outlook is turning sour. They will help offer solutions if you reach out.

In all of this, remember that everyone has times when they feel down. You may feel lonely from time to time or be disappointed when your team does not win. This is all normal and fine. The key here is to be aware of when it is happening and work back to being your positive self.

The Importance of Gratitude

Negativity often stems from dissatisfaction. To combat that, focus on the opposite: gratitude. That just means thankfulness. We should regularly look at our lives and point out all the things we are thankful for.

When you express gratitude for what you have, you acknowledge that these blessings originate outside of yourself. Someone or something has had a positive impact on you. Considering these things when you are going through a tough time will help you bounce back.

One tried and true method to remain grateful is to use a journal to keep track of your thoughts. Find a quiet place and list everything you are thankful for in your life. The act of writing these down will force you to slow down and be more grateful.

Your list could start with something as simple as clean air to breathe. Not everyone has that. Remember that many people live in areas that do not have clean air. Or clean running water. Or a consistent power source.

Be grateful for what you have. If you live in a nation like the United States, you can easily see many tremendous blessings. Think of those living in other areas of the world. Whenever you see photos from more impoverished areas, remember what you have.

What else should go on your list? Friends, helfpul teachers at school, technology, parents who care about you, etc. The list can be as long as the time you have to make it. Read over it when you are done—and revisit and add to it regularly. It can even include minor things like a compliment you received or a special dinner your mom made. This list will help reframe your outlook to be more positive.

Research supports the idea that expressing gratitude improves life satisfaction. A New York Times article stated, “Many studies have asked participants to write letters of thanks, or to list the positive things in their lives, and then measured the effects of those acts. The results suggest that performing these types of activities provides mental health benefits—reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety, increasing self-esteem and improving satisfaction with daily life.”

What does God say about this practice? “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (I Thes. 5:18).

We should be thanking God in our prayers every day—this is yet another way to help push away negative attitudes.

The simplest forms of gratitude are important too. Never forget to thank others who have helped you. If one of your friends does something nice for you unexpectedly, thank them personally, or even give them a thank you card or small gift. You can also return the favor by doing something for them.

Making gratitude a habit will help lessen the impact of setbacks and frustrations and support your efforts to become a more positive person.

Surround Yourself with Positivity

Have you heard the famous saying “You are what you eat”? For this article, we could restate that as “The person you become is driven by who or what you surround yourself with.”

Who you spend your time with and what you consume (movies, books, music, etc.) impacts who and what you are.

Be honest with yourself about how certain things affect you. Does your attitude suffer after spending time with certain people? Do you feel more negative when listening to certain music or watching certain TV shows? The choice of who and what you surround yourself with is up to you.

Be sure to stay in contact with the friends you have made in God’s Church—whether in person or virtually.

Talk about your hobbies and interests. This is a way to help each other navigate the world of pop culture and make good decisions on how you spend your time.

If you randomly think about someone you have not contacted in a while, reach out to them. Keeping bonds and connections strong will give you regular boosts of positivity that everyone needs.

Philippians 4:8 contains a list of what we should be filling our minds with: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (New Living Translation).

Making a conscious effort to focus on the things on this list will help you stay positive.

Set the Right Goals

Negativity often creeps in because we suffer setbacks that seem like crushing defeats. This can come from not setting goals. Having a keen sense of direction and purpose will help you keep the big picture in mind—and put any delays or holdups into perspective.

Record your goals. Whether you are saving for a car or applying for a college or university, writing goals down or recording them electronically begins your journey to achieving them.

Maybe you want to become an information technology professional. Setting the goal starts the dominos falling: saving for school, applying for college, keeping up with your studies, learning to craft a resume. All these steps toward a larger goal become goals themselves along the way. Checking those boxes off becomes addictive!

A big part of being able to make progress with the goals you have set is to take one day at a time. In Matthew 6:34, Jesus Christ told us how we should view each day: “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

Even though you have goals set far out in the future, treat each day as a new challenge to overcome. That is more than enough to manage!

You cannot press skip and go straight through to the end of the process. Starting your day the right way with a positive attitude will lead you on the path to success. Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Goal setting will also improve your ability to manage time. Like I was as a teenager, you might be terrible at it to begin with, but eventually you will get the hang of it!

You are the one who can decide to make each day have a positive outcome. Crossing mile markers along the way to a goal produces personal satisfaction.

Staying Positive Going Forward

It is easy to get sucked into the negativity in this world. But you have the context within God’s Church that there is a plan in place that will deliver this world from its ills. Until that plan is fulfilled, you still must navigate this current world.

Use the tools in this article to help you in your daily life. They will help you navigate the difficulties that will surely come.

Most important, rely on God’s Word as a guide. Remember Romans 8:28, which says that “all things work together for good to them that love God.”

Our Creator also tells us that even tough moments are there for a reason. Ecclesiastes 7:14 says, “In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also has set the one over against the other.”

You must discern the lessons God wants you to learn and push onward. Lean on your parents, your minister and your friends in the Church for help. They will be able to lend a perspective on your situation that you may not be able to see.

Determine to rise above what you see in this world and surround yourself with positivity, set achievable goals and focus on what you are most thankful for.

When challenging times come, you will be prepared for them, knowing that there is a multi-tiered support system in place that has your back.

Throughout your life, remember Jesus’ words in John 10:10: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” God wants you to be a fulfilled, happy, positive person!