Although the title of this article most likely brands it as cliché or cheesy, but please, put your preconceptions aside, and hear me out. I’d really like to share with you, reader, how a positive mindset could greatly impact your life. When life starts to beat down on you, the easiest thing to do always seems to be to accept defeat. As tempting as taking that L may be, don’t do it. I used to be someone who was a victim of spiraling – a psychological phenomenon where an individual interprets a small hiccup as the end all be all of their lives (yes, I just completely invented that definition, but you got to admit, it works).

I used to spiral everything way out of proportion and just exert a lot of negative energy when I had time to myself. This negativity took a toll on my mental health, causing me to think poorly of myself and other people’s opinions of me. Being pessimistic is a toxic way to live and damages the individual as well as others around them, so to others, I masked this negativity and did not let anyone catch a glimpse of the darkness that was fermenting inside of me. Negative thinking became a habit that did not seem like I was going to break.

One summer, I participated in a camp and at the end of the session they gave out awards. Well, ironically enough, I received the “Glass Half Full” Award. What were the odds that I would get that award? This was a sign from the universe that I needed to make a change in my thinking. After this wake-up call, I began to make little changes in the way that I thought – this process does not occur overnight. I came to learn that dwelling on negative thoughts deterred me from living the life I was blessed with to its fullest potential. Over time, I began thinking that the grass was greener everywhere – not just on the other side that I never seemed to be on. We’re all on “other side,” we just have to see it as such.

I was able to break the cage that was trapping me for so long, I just needed to realize that I had the key the entire time (major key alert). Positive thinking has now become a lifestyle and I am a genuinely happy person because of it. The best part of being a positive person is spreading it on to others. The energy brought into a room by someone optimistic by nature is contagious and it truly makes a difference in people’s lives. To close, some words that I feel encapsulate the spirit of what it means to be positive come from the great DJ Khaled: “they will try to close the door on you, just open it.”