To be positive does not mean hiding the head in the sand and pretending that all is well when it’s not. If your shirt is on fire, it needs to be attended to. If you’re living off your credit cards, you are not in the land of plenty even if you’ve read The Secret and have manifested a million dollars for next week.

Being positive does not mean shunning reality. It means expecting and knowing that there is a solution to your problems and that you’ll find it, work it and solve the problem or problems. It also means having faith and confidence in your resources, having faith in the future and not being stuck on dwelling about everything that is going wrong in the world.

The fact that you are positive does not mean that you cannot get angry once in a while. Sometimes the energy that anger provides is necessary. That is especially the case when you’ve reached the threshold of tolerance.

If you’re overweight and eating your way to an early grave, it’s OK to get angry and say, “That’s it. I’ve had it. This is not me; I’m smarter and more disciplined than that. From this day on, things are going to change.” Saying that and meaning it while angry is not being negative. You are simply using one more resource at your disposal to get things done.

There is no such thing as a bad emotion or a negative emotion. Emotions are negative only when used in a disempowering way. They all have their utility and they all can be empowering. Emotions are neutral. It’s the way that they are used that can either be positive and negative.

That being said, it’s now time to get into the nitty-gritty of what is meant by “being positive.” There is one element that is absolutely essential to be positive. That is the fact that action must follow reflection. Faith without work is dead and being positive without taking action is being delusional.

If you’re positive that you can make it to first base before the ball gets there and you stay at home-plate, you’re not positive. You’re being silly. It’s the same for everyday occurrences. If you are positive that a situation or a problem will be solved and you don’t actually take action to solve it, you’re worst than being negative. You’re kidding yourself.

To be truly positive, action has to follow thoughts. That’s the true test of a positive attitude. It’s also where talk about being positive can actually be truly negative. People who put faith in the positive attitude and do not include action in the process are not actually helping themselves. They are actually hurting themselves.

Simply being positive by itself has never helped anyone. We see them all the time, the eternal optimists who positively believe that some day, their ship will come home. The ship will not come home if you did not put one in the water in the first place.

The term, positive attitude, may be the greatest thing since sliced bread but it will not do much for anyone if it’s not fully understood and used the way that it should. Sliced bread will not be of much use if it stays in the bag and a positive attitude will not help if it’s not coupled with action.

A positive attitude can be a tremendous tool for achievement and for successful living. It can also be a way of hiding the head in the sand. It can be an explosive force so long as it has a detonating device. That device is called, action. With a positive attitude and some corresponding action, almost anything is possible. When we separate these two elements, life gets to be hard… real hard.

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