Has someone ever told you to, “think positive?” Or how about the people who describe themselves or others as having a positive mindset?
Last week, I was filming a video training series at a production studio in Detroit, MI and I was taken aback (in a positive way:) by the company’s core values plastered throughout the facility on placards, tabletops, and signage. Their core values read:
Humble: Don’t take yourself too seriously. Have fun, period.
Hungry: Celebrate and encourage others. Pursue growth opportunities for you and the company.
Smart: Choose positivity.
The last one got me. Choose positivity. I’m someone who has frequently used positive thinking as a mantra of sorts. My wife Megan will commend me, and equally lambast me, for trying to find the good in any situation we encounter. But I had never thought of it in terms of a choice. Positivity as a choice?
Life is full of choices – and as humans – we all face choices on a daily basis. Some choices are small in nature (what to wear, to eat, or to watch on TV, for example). Other choices will have more significant impacts (do you change careers, ask for a raise, who to spend your life with, to name a few). Regardless of the size of the decision, it’s a choice you’re going to make and it’s a choice you’re going to live with through the consequences, good or bad.
So yes, positivity is a choice. It’s a choice we can make every day. It’s a choice you make despite the bad moments we might encounter along the way. Choosing positivity does not mean you’re always happy. Choosing positivity does not mean you can’t have a bad day. Those will happen to everyone, but choosing positivity means you won’t let those bad moments ruin the day, or the bad days ruin the week. Choosing positivity means you give the situation the benefit of the doubt. Choosing positivity means you take defeat with a keen mind on what you learned. Choosing positivity means you don’t let the negative story in your head take the lead. Instead, it means you’re committed to finding the good and giving it as much – or more – light than the negative.
I’ll leave you with a short snippet from my family’s Christmas card this year. It read:
“At the end of the day – regardless of what’s going on in the world – we’re extremely lucky for our health, our family, and each other. None of us want to do another pandemic – or see this one go on any longer than necessary – but if 2020 taught us anything, it’s how your perspective – positive or negative – can become your reality.”
