How to be Positive Stop the Downturn and Find the Silver Lining!

It's hard not to be negative when we're bombarded with negativity all around us. But learning how to be positive in this chaos can change your life.

I consider myself to be a fairly positive person. But, there are days when I find myself in utter despair. Okay, if I want to be truly honest with you, which I always try to be, I find myself in a downward spiral for weeks at a time. Sometimes knowing how to be positive isn't always so simple.

There is so much going on in our world. You can't turn on the television without hearing who is aiming their weapons at us, that people are being rounded up and deported, or even just about the hurricanes you can't do anything about. As humans, it is hard to hear so many negative things and rise above it.

How to be positive: 8 simple changes to find that silver lining

I am going to let you in on a secret. If you don't already know it, tragedy sells so much better than happiness. You tell a story about what a fantastic day you had and have someone else follow it up by how they lost someone they love and see which one of you is more interesting to a crowd.

The thing about understanding how to be positive is that it turns your whole world around without really doing anything at all. If you look on the bright side and see the silver lining around you, then the world isn't such a scary or awful place anymore. If you want to know how to be positive, try these super easy changes today. Soon they add up to major change.

#1 Turn off the media. Yep, that is right. The world is not going to fall to pieces because you didn't watch all the horrible things that Kim Jong-un is going to do to us. The reality is that if someone wants to set off a nuclear bomb, they are going to do it no matter what you think or do.

So, why waste so much time listening to horrible incoming messages. It just makes you feel out of control and doomed. What is the point in that? Unplug from the media and you will be instantly amazed how much more positive you feel.

The media's job is to create drama. Don't buy into it. It only makes you feel negative and nervous. Who needs that? Stop being guided by people who use your emotions to further their agenda.

#2 Take every scenario and think about the good. No matter what happens around you, there is something positive that happens as a result. Sure, the hurricane was not positive for thousands of people. But on a positive note, many people who needed a new house or were upside-down in their mortgage, might have gotten a new house or a pass.

For every bad situation, there is something good to be found. You might have to look a little harder sometimes more than others. There is always a positive to any negative. It is like some sort of physiological law *I think*.

#3 Cling to happy people. Sometimes misery truly does love company. If you are surrounded by naysayers and people in your life who always feel as if the world is out to get them and it sucks, then that is going to be your frame of mind.

Stop hanging out with misery. Find people who lift you up and are positive. And, what you will find is that it is nearly impossible to be a Debbie Downer if no one around you wants to join in. Find a new group of positive people to bring you out of your negative rut. Those people with nothing nice to say are doing nothing but bringing you down and vice versa.

#4 Find your purpose. Sounds so easy, doesn't it? If you sit down and think about what it is that you are here on earth for, it is a daunting question. If you figure out the big picture, like why we wake up every day and do what we do and what the overall purpose of it is, then it is much easier to think about good versus not-so-good.

I am always amazed by religious people and how they put their hands into the fate of whoever it is they believe in. Wow, what a freeing feeling! Alongside that, life would seem much less random. It makes you see that everything you do is part of a bigger and more purposeful end.

I am not suggesting you become a Hare Krishna. I am suggesting that you stop to examine what it is that you want your life to add up to. When you find your purpose, everything is much more positive feeling.

#5 Take a good look around. It is not hard to start feeling negative and sorry for yourself when things aren't going the way that you want them to. The thing about life is that no matter how hard you have it, there is always someone who has it worse than you. If that isn't the case, then, sorry, you just might not have anything to be positive about.

When I mean someone, I don't mean your close friends and family. I mean the people involved in Hurricane Harvey or Irma. Those less fortunate than us should always guide us to see the many blessings we have been given and to stop the pity party and negativity that turns even the bluest sky to black.

#6 Let go of your past. I hate to say it, but some of us grew up with role models that weren't exactly encouraging and positive. When you live with people who tell you that life isn't fair, it isn't that they aren't right. But the truth is that life might not be “fair,” but it is fun and worthwhile even if you don't have what you want and what everyone else has.

No one is going to get exactly what they want. That whole phrase “life isn't fair” is a coward's way out of explaining that sometimes we don't get what we want. We get what is good for us. Stop thinking the world is just this place that isn't full of justice and start seeing that if you didn't ever have misfortune, how could you possibly understand what it means to be fortunate.

If you grew up in a negative household, you must learn to retire those old notions and feelings. See for yourself that life is a wonder. The only one responsible for your misfortune is you if you don't find the goodness around.

The only one who changes your fate is you, so go after it. Forget whatever it is that your role models told you about how the world does or doesn't work. Decide for yourself.

#7 Experiment. Try this for one day, just one, if you want to know how to be positive. I want you to think about nothing but positive things for one day. No matter what comes your way, dismiss it, and think happy thoughts about something else.

Old habits die hard, and if you tend to be someone who thinks negatively, finding positivity isn't going to come naturally. I promise, with some practice, that it will come your way. It is going to take some conscious effort to override what you are used to. So, try to find the positive side of life.

#8 Change your speech and words, and change your life. If you start talking in positive terms, then your entire outlook will change. What do I mean? Stop saying words like never, not, don't, and other negative terms.

If you eliminate those limiting boundaries through the words you speak, you will be amazed at how quickly your mindset follows. Sometimes hearing ourselves talk out loud is the worst negativity reinforcement there is.

Positivity seems like an easy enough thing, right? I mean what isn't easy about always being Pollyanna and looking on the bright-side of things? Like everything. Sometimes it feels like the world is out to get you.

Change your mind, your speech, your upbringing, and you just might find out how to be positive and change your life.