If you know me now, you probably know I’m a pretty positive person. I try to look for the best in every situation and don’t really let too much bring me down. However, if you’ve known me for more than four years, then you probably know I wasn’t always like this.

I used to actually be a pretty negative person. I never really thought that being happy was something I had control over. I had this mind set that life sucked. I hated my body, I didn’t like myself, and I didn’t like the way my life was going. Now I’m not saying I was some dark, depressing person. I still had great times and I laughed a lot. I loved my friends and if you saw me a few years ago then you would have thought I was a perfectly happy person. However, I was actually destroying my life with my negativity.

If I had a test, I would instantly think I failed. If I got in a fight with my friends, I would think the worst. If something bad happened, I would dwell on it for days. Basically whenever I felt anxious, stressed, or upset I wouldn’t do anything about it. I would let it stay until it disappeared. I never knew that I had a choice about letting these thoughts and feelings in.

Being positive wasn’t just a change that happened to me over night, but the idea of the change was. I went through a rough two months after a break up where I just didn’t seem to enjoy anything. I guess you can say it was a sort of depression. But, one day I woke up and decided that I didn’t want to live this way anymore. I wanted to be happier, and I wanted to be in control of my happiness. So from that point on I tried to fight every negative thought I had. If I felt myself overthinking something and becoming upset, I would instantly distract myself and think of something else. For example, if I found myself freaking out about a presentation I had the next day and thinking I was going to do horrible, I would change that thought into telling myself I was prepared or this one grade wouldn’t matter that much.

I also changed the way I saw the world.

The world can honestly be a much better place if you just see it that way. You have to visualize it as a place full of opportunity and beauty. Sure a rainy, dark day may be depressing but in a way it’s actually kind of relaxing and calming. A crappy day always comes to an end and a new day begins every morning. Life is not as bad as we make it seem. Give yourself a chance and stop putting yourself down. You didn’t get the job you wanted? There’s something else better waiting for you. You had to go through a lot of struggles over the past month? Guess what? That made you stronger. There is a positive to every negative, its just not always that clear but you can find it.

Changing to be a more positive person was the best thing I could have ever done for myself. Now I don’t even have to try, it just happens. I managed to change my whole view of the world with a little work. Your life is not as bad as you think it is. That’s just the choice you made. You choose how you want to be and how you want to see the world and no matter where you are in life, you have the opportunity to change that. So don’t say this is just how you are, or you’re a negative person. Instead, work on fixing that because you can. It may not be easy, but it is definitely worth it because I love my life so much more than I did four years ago.

~Every moment of sadness is a moment of happiness lost~