Every January, first we talk about how this is "our year." For some of us, the year brings life and prosperity. For others, it's a never-ending cycle of bad days. Midway into 2016, we all know it's the latter. Between constant terrorist attacks and politics going awry, keeping the positivity with which we started the year gets harder and harder. It also gets harder to count the blessings when there's nothing but burdens. Now, I'm a firm believer that every things happens for a reason partly because I'm Catholic and partly because it's true. And while we can't control what happens, we can control what we do about it. How do we do it? Well, lucky you, I've written a how-to list.

1) Making the best out of a sticky situation is probably the only way we can make it through the next half of the year.

What I'm also a firm believer of is that change doesn't happen until we start it. You don't just see the universal chaos and think, "man, this really sucks. Well, I might as well just sit down and wait for a humanitarian to fix this!" It doesn't work like that. You don't lose weight by eating chips and binge watching "Gilmore Girls." So why would the world be any different?

2) Pessimists, if you're asking yourselves: "how does positivity work?" it's actually a facile task.

That's right, you won't have to pick up a "Positivity for Dummies"! It's not about the sunshines and the rainbows; it's about seeing the bad and finding a way to bring out good. It's as easy as donating blood for Orlando victims, giving money to the Turkish Red Crescent Society, or registering to vote. Your year could be made by making theirs.

3) The challenges of life either set us back or move us forward.

When we think negatively and just focus on the negative, the universe is going to have more disaster. Yet when we have a moral reboot and start becoming the positive people we want in the world, the next half of the year can start looking better.

4) Actually apply these steps into the real world by opening these links. I found these on The Huffington Post and I'd just like to pay it forward:

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5773da67e4b0eb90355cf4e0

https://www.oneblood.org

Positivity lifts spirits up. It relieves. Have you noticed that we never focus on the good news? Let's change that.