How to Stay Positive in a Negative World

 

When Lisa called and said the shelves were bare at the Mahtomedi Food Shelf, it broke my heart. I have never experienced hunger, but my parents had, growing up during the Great Depression. So, wanting to help, I organized a food drive in my neighborhood. Their generosity filled the shelves with 645 pounds of food and $400 worth of donations! This act of kindness warmed my heart.

 

When I listen to the news, I feel overwhelmed and helpless by things happening in our world, like wars, pandemics, inflation, political divisiveness, natural disasters, and hunger. Still, I have learned that to stay positive in a negative world; I need to have a positive focus and try to help out and make a difference in small ways that can have a meaningful positive impact. 

 

Our human tendency is to focus on the negative instead of the positive. It is easy to criticize, complain and judge, but it takes discipline and maturity to be kind, to forgive, and find the good. So how do we stay positive in a negative world? We think positive thoughts. We do positive things, and we practice focusing on the good. Each positive thought and action builds upon the next. My neighbor's generosity is an example of turning a negative into a positive and taking action rather than choosing helplessness.