How positively do you think?

No matter what age you're in, you should test your thinking. Questions like, “Do you get angry when a driver cuts into your lane?”, “Do you get upset when the barrista messes up your favorite drink?”, or “Do you get riled up when your secretary does not understand your instructions right away?”

Check if you respond positively or negatively to these statements. With your honest answer you will know where you stand.

If you are a positive thinker, it is well and good. But if not, then you can still become one. The only thing you need is a desire to think positively.

Few tips to share with everyone on how to develop positive thought.

1. Accept reality.

Truth is always stranger than fiction and truth cannot be denied. It is and will always remain as truth. We must accept the truth as we cannot evade it, no matter how it hurt. Denial of reality may give temporary relief but later on it will cause us psychological problems. So why go around play hide and seek.

Accept what is there and live with it.

2. Develop confidence in yourself and your abilities.

Lacking confidence leads to inferiority complex. We tend to give up even before we try. Do what you can, with what you have and where you are. Start with what is possible and you will slowly end up doing the impossible.

3. Do not indulge in backbiting.

One must not stab people in the back. This is a habit of cowards. Be bold and express your feelings before the concerned person. It will make you feel better and do him her good too.

4. You are not indispensable.

Never have the wrong notion that you are indispensable.

Accept the fact that there have been and there are people better than you in every field. If you start thinking of your self indispensable then it's the end of the road for you. Give room to yourself as well as others to grow.

5. Do not make lame excuses.

Many people are in a habit of making lame excuses for justifying their acts. The chains of such a habit is too weak to felt until it gets too strong to be broken. So watch out before its too late.

6. It is not always about you.

When things happen around us, we immediately connect it with ourselves–how it affects us, how it makes us feel, how it hurts us. When in fact, it has very little to do with us. Learn to see the bigger picture always.

7. Always be grateful.

There is beauty in being grateful for what you have, and what you don’t have. People say that it is not happy people who are grateful. It is grateful people who are happy. When you learn to be grateful in little things, you will begin to see positivity and beauty in everything.

Think, live, and act positively and your life will prosper. *Chona Mendoza is the current president of Fun n Fairways Toastmasters Club, a club that accommodates employees of Cebu Country Club and other non-CCC employees. The club meets every 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month, at the Acacia Room of Cebu Country Club, 3 to 5 p.m.