Kick Negativity to The Curb

With a ball and bat in his hand, a little boy says to himself, "I am the best hitter in all the world" - He then throws the ball up and swings at the ball but he misses. He picks up the ball and then says, "I am the best hitter in all the world" - He then throws the ball up and swings but he misses a second time. He picks up the ball a third time and then says, "I am the best hitter in all the world" - He then throws the ball up and swings at the ball but he misses again. He picks up the ball a fourth time and then says, "Wow, go figure. I am the best pitcher in all the world."

The ability to see through the haze and be tenacious and agile is the key to keeping a positive attitude about life, career, relationships, hopes and dreams, basically most anything. When we are experiencing something that we did not expect or desire, the last thing that we want to do is feed into it with negativity. That gives the "bad thing" strength over us. That makes it a formidable foe. Do not not treat it like that. Look at it with a realistic eye. How does a "realistic eye" look at things? It looks at it with a temporary mind set. It finds ways to stay positive. When you do that, you then will accomplish what is in your heart. You will overcome.

In the above story, the little boy was experiencing failure. No matter how hard he tried, he could not hit the ball. But he knew that he needed to find a way to stay positive as this "struggle" to hit the ball may take longer than he expected. So, he looked at the situation a bit differently. He found a positive and a reason to be grateful. With this attitude, one day he will hit that ball and quite possibly be the best hitter in all the world.

It would serve us well to learn from this parable. The lesson that the little boy taught us can be applied in any situation, be it at work, at school, at home, in our relationships with friends and family and in our communities.

Has there ever been a time where things were not going too well at work? Perhaps, you were struggling trying to accomplish something for your boss or your team mates. Maybe you were not scoring well on your exams at school. Perhaps, things were becoming tough in your marriage. The reality is that it may take some time to address these issues but in the meantime hold on to positivity. Choose to be positive. Look for anything to be grateful for. We all have things in our lives that we are grateful for. Keep a smile on your face. You have some work ahead of you and if you are going to accomplish what you need to, you have to have "fuel" in your tank.

When, I was a kid, I started martial arts. I really liked it. I enjoyed the workouts, the smell of the dojo, the history and the comradery, the whole thing. I was at the dojo 5 times a week and practiced incessantly at home. I could never get enough. The only thing that I did not like was the belt testing. The thought of standing in front of a bunch of black belts for 2 hours as they put me through my paces for all to see made me nervous. I was so negative. I just could not get myself to believe that I was good enough and if I tested and "did my thing" in front of people then they would see that I was not that good as well. Choosing to be negative caused me to have to repeat tests over and over until one day, the head instructor asked to talk to me.

We walked into his office which was down the hall from the locker room. He closed the door of the locker room as well as the office door and then looked at me and said "You have one of the best front snap kicks that I have ever seen and your punches are solid. You have really fast hands. I do not think that I have complimented you enough but you deserve it. You work very hard." That is all it took. I found something to be positive about and be grateful for. While, I still had some work to do in order to past my belt tests, I also had a much better attitude going into them. Years later, the head instructor told me that he knew I needed that. It was his way of trying to inspire me and it worked.

In the end, we all need to stay positive while we face our hurdles in life. Act like you have already accomplished what you wanted. Talk as if the dream has already happened. Think like whatever your dreaming for is a done deal. We will have negative thoughts sneak into our minds from time to time but stand guard and kick those thoughts to the curb and stay positive .