A few years ago, I was at a bad point in my life. Betrayed by supposed "friends" I'd had since birth, I was essentially homeless and forced to involve myself in a whole lot of less-than-legal activities just to get by and continue to live. My entire focus in life became day-to-day survival at any cost, and predictably I began to exhibit the bitterness anyone who's ever been to the hood can recognize in those who've lived there for a while. My attitude was far from positive. Around the time where I was at my darkest, the latest Rocky movie came out. I'm a little ashamed to say it now, but up until that point I had never seen any of the series, dismissing them as feel-good movies from a long-gone era of easier living. When the new one was released, by some freak circumstance I ended up watching all 6 movies in marathon form at a friend's house. It quite literally changed my life. At the beginning of the series, we witness the protagonist's far-from-glamorous (or even desirable) lifestyle. After winning a fight against Spider Rico, he's called a bum by a random woman in the crowd. We witness his discontent with his lot in life in a conversation between him and a bartender. His apartment is a dump, probably populated by more rats than people. When he arrives at the gym the next day to train, he finds his locker has been supplanted by the gym manager in favor of a more promising boxer. Things aren't going well. Yet after every negative event in Rocky's life, no matter how much hurt and heartache piles onto him, he always finds something positive to say about the situation. Of course a lot of times when he does this he's simply trying to dilute himself and those around him into believing he's OK with his life (as becomes obvious later in the first film), but given the choice between a pessimistic realist and a delusional optimist, I think we'd all rather hang out with the optimist. For some reason, this resonated with me and as I watched the movies his positivity became contagious. Before long, I noticed myself doing this exact same thing in my every day life. Then a funny thing happened--I actually became positive! Since then, this has become ingrained in my personality and with a few exceptions, I have remained 100% positive ever since. At first it was a little difficult--I had to be hyper-aware of my thoughts and consciously stop myself any time I felt a negative mood coming on, then search for some upside to the situation (even if it was ridiculous and insubstantial) and say it out loud. Now, I do it all the time. Stuck in traffic? Hey, at least I'm sitting down in a comfortable seat in my car, out of the weather. Your dog died? Well, you gave him a better life than just about any other dog around and you have lots of great memories with him. Got drunk and hooked up with a fat chick last night? At least you know who to call if you need your car pushed out of a ditch. Get used to pointing out the silver lining in every cloud and pretty soon the silver lining is all you'll be able to see. Before long you'll become a beacon of positive emotions forced to drop $3000 on workshops to cut down your social circle and get women out of your bed.

Your boy,
870

Nice post

Excellent post. I've had this mentality for a long time now. I believe everything happens for a reason.

I was talking to a friend of mine last night who nearly died in a car accident a few months ago. She used to be VERY pessimistic but she told me ever since she nearly lost her life, she has finally realised how much ungrateful she was, etc and how much she now loves life. Her accident happened for a reason.

Every bad situation has or will have a good side to it, you just need to open your eyes.

V.Good Post.. I liked it.

_________________
If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you think you'll lose, you've lost.
--It's all in the STATE OF MIND--