Consolation of Positive Thinking

            I used to always take everything that happened to me in stride and look at the good in everything. I used to never let the negative things in my life get to me and weigh me down. I walk through campus and everything I see seems to look like its in black and white and everyone has a sad expression on their face. I had just woken up two hours late and missed my 8:30 completely! As I walk to my second class of the day, I see a woman walking up in brightly colored clothes and grinning from ear to ear. As she approaches me, I notice there was something about her that everyone else lacks, but I couldn’t make out what it was. She walks up and complements the day on how beautiful it was, while all I see is a cloudy overcast day that I deem another reason I should go back to bed.

She walks up and says, “Hi Susie! How is your day?” I’m hesitant to talk to her since I don’t know who she is and she knows who I am.

“I’ve noticed that you don’t walk around with a smile on your face and talk to everyone that you meet anymore, and I’m here to remind you of your old friend, Positive Thinking!” she said. I agree and we start to walk around with her. She asks how my day has been and I tell her about how I missed my first class and how the day is gloomy and that I really just want to go back to bed.

She immediately says, “Susie don’t think that way! Today is a beautiful day because its another day that God gave you! Also, just think of missing your first class as an opportunity to get caught up on sleep that you have been missing!”

I start to think that maybe I have been lacking something that I once had. I haven’t been looking at the good in things and have been focusing on the bad in things.

Positive Thinking continued talking and said, “You let things bother you now, that didn’t use to bother you! Change the way you look at things because you can’t change everything.” The words started to bother me and play over and over in my mind.

I said in resentment, “It’s really hard to think that way and not let people bother you. How do you always think that way and not get bothered?”

She says, “I know it’s hard to think this way. I often have a hard time thinking this way also. Whenever I face hardship, I just think of the problem positively and then go after it one step at a time.”

I thought for a minute and then asked, “What about when ever that doesn’t work? What about the times that you don’t think you can get through it all?”

She replied, “Always remember that God doesn’t give you anything that you can’t handle in this life! God has plans for you and will always be with you through the hard and good times!”

            I thought about what Positive Thinking had said and I realized that she was right about what she had said. After she finished talking, she said she had to leave.

As she was walking away she turned around and said, “And never forget to smile. Never let the things that surround you bring you down. Be a light in this dark world and always be a reason that someone smiles today!” She walked away with a big smile on her face because she knew that what she said had stuck with me and that I was going to start applying it to my life.  As my day went on, I thought about everything that Positive Thinking and I had talked about and I was determined to have a good day and to look at everything that I faced in the rest of the day with a positive attitude and a smile on my face. As I continued to walk to my class, everything I saw seemed to pop with color and everyone I met had a pep to their step and a smile on their face. The way you think at things can truly change the outcome. I want to be a light to shine for all to see and to spread the word of Jesus for all to hear!