Being A Positive Person Can Actually Take You Further in Life

Positive thinking is such a nice thought (see what I did there?), but there are people who think that it’s just a fun idea and a cute concept. I have this total obsession with positive thinking. I like it. I don’t know about all the “power of positive thinking” that people are always talking about, but I do know that being positive is something that just makes me feel better. After having a conversation recently in which someone told me that always advising others to thinking positively and have a positive attitude and outlook sounds ‘stupid’ and ‘silly,’ I was a little annoyed.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with being positive in a negative situation, do you? In fact, I prefer it. For one, when I remain positive, I find myself to be a little bit more level-headed. I find that I don’t panic as much, worry as much or make poor choices. Additionally, I find that positive people are just so much more enjoyable to spend time with than the negative ones. Who wants to spend time with people who complain and look at the negative in every single situation? Not me, that’s for certain.

I maintain my stance on believing that being positive is just preferable, and I recently read an article this morning that totally and completely justified my belief in this, and I thought I might share what I learned from this article. I’ve been receiving a lot of flak lately for being positive and believing that positive thoughts promote positivity in life. I don’t apologize for that. In fact, I’m promoting it even more. Here’s what I learned from some research conducted by some super smart people (Barbara Frederickson – psychology researcher with University of North Carolina) had to say about their positive findings.

Positive People Make Better Decisions

Let’s look at it this way; when you’re in a positive mood, you’re more apt to make a better decision than you would if you were in a negative mood. Let’s say, for example, that you are in a beautiful and positive mood after a good workout and someone cuts you off in traffic. You’re either going to ignore it, or think that some people are rude, and then forget all about it.

Now let’s say you are in a horrible, negative mood when someone cuts you off in traffic. Now you’re even more upset and you begin yelling and screaming out the window, throwing certain fingers in the air and then road rage happens, that person slams on the brakes, you’re in an accident and then you decide you can’t handle this anymore today so you pull out your concealed weapon (for the sake of this argument, you do have a concealed carriers permit) and you shoot the other driver’s tires out before engaging the police in a high speed chase.

Now, this example may or may not be a tad bit on the extreme side, but do you see where we were going with this? Positive people with positive attitudes tend to make better decisions than those with negative attitudes.

Positive People are More Open to New Experiences

The truth is that when you are a positive person, you tend to see the good before and more prominently than you see the bad. That makes you more willing to try new things. You see the potential in a new job rather than the fear of leaving your comfort zone in an old job. You see the excitement in moving to a new city and trying new things, meeting new people and living a new life rather than allowing yourself to become overwhelmed with the heartbreak of leaving your old life behind.

Being more open to new experiences tends to make you more successful in life. After all, we all fail and bad things happen to all of us, but we can’t dwell on those things or we end up becoming permanently fearful of everything new in life; those people stay where they are and rarely reach their full potential.

Positive People do Attract More Honey

It’s a saying, of course; but that doesn’t make it any less true. When you are a positive person with a positive attitude, you’re far more likely to attract more positive people. Negative people don’t like positive people and they tend to take their negativity elsewhere. Additionally, positive people like to build one another up. You will find that more positive experiences occur in life because you make better choices, you are more open and you don’t sit back and take everything personally.

Basically, there’s nothing negative about being positive. You see the good in people and in things, you learn more, you try new things and you are more open to other positive things happening. You can believe in a deeper idea of it than this, but it’s all relative. Being positive is a good thing.

Photo by Getty Images