Being positive isn’t always easy, is it? I know that, because many people come to me with some kind of worry or fear on their mind. They seek out a Tarot reading because they are feeling anxious, or want to understand more about a situation.
They want to learn more about the future, because it all seems so… uncertain. And of course it is.
But there is one way we can improve how we see things - not only the future, but also the past, and especially the present.
That’s allowing yourself to have more positive thoughts. As I’ll share with you, the power of positive thinking can be like casting a magic spell on every area of your life.
Norman Vincent Peale wrote a book on this very subject, ‘The Power of Positive Thinking’ in 1952. It became a million-copy bestseller, and is packed with lots of case studies and examples of how positive thinking can change someone’s world.
He opens the book by saying “It is a pity that people should let themselves be defeated by the problems, cares, and difficulties of human existence, and it is also quite unnecessary.”
Is he right?
I know it can be easy to see the dark side of something, especially a closed door like a breakup, a job loss or some other kind of rejection, but with positive thoughts you stay open to the possibility that this may actually be a good thing.
Positive thinking is about expecting positive results in your life. It is about becoming mentally strong, and to see the bright side in every situation.
It is about training your mind to look for the good in every situation.
After all, we never know how amazing life can be, do we? Our whole world can change in an instant, and for the better.
Peale says: “When you expect the best you release a magnetic force in your mind which by a law of attraction tends to bring the best to you”
It wasn’t just Norman Vincent Peale that believed in the power of positive thinking. Throughout history, there have been several people that have been passionate about what optimism can do for your life.
When you think positively, people generally label you as optimistic. You’re the kind of person who sees the glass half full, and even when things go wrong, a positive thinker can somehow reframe it to make it mean something good.
Positive thinking is the best way you can turn your life around, according to many optimists, and it’s not just a fluffy new-age exercise.
If you think positive thinking is just wishful thinking, there’s a whole bunch of well-known people that will tell you you’re wrong.
They used positive thinking to fuel their success.
Gandhi believed in the power of positive thoughts. He once said, `A man is the product of his thoughts. What he believes, he becomes.’
Jim Carrey used to sit on a hill above his hometown, and took out a check he had written himself to the tune of $10 million dollars ‘for acting services rendered.’ He would sit and say to himself ‘everyone wants to work with me, I am a highly successful actor’, over, and over again.
What happened? In 1994, Carrey got his first major role- a role in Dumb and Dumber, and a check for $10 million.
Jennifer Lopez used to repeat positive words to herself daily, for 15 minutes every day. She credits it for where she got to today, with her wildly successful singing career.
Will Smith is another successful person that practised positive thinking. He says “In my mind, I've always been an A-list Hollywood superstar. Y'all just didn't know yet.” It certainly worked for him.
Richard Branson lost millions of dollars when his attempt at rivalling Pepsi and Coke, his ‘Virgin Cola’ spectacularly failed. Yet due to his tenacity and positive mental attitude, he found success by persevering with the brand in other ways.
Is it just supreme confidence or self belief? Whatever it is, they’ve proven to themselves that it works.
Positive thinking also affects your health, too.
It’s been shown by numerous studies that thinking positively not only lifts your mood, but can improve immunity, and even extend the life of people with chronic illnesses like AIDS and Type 2 diabetes.
People with a family history of heart disease who had a positive outlook were one third less likely to have a heart attack, too.
It’s not just physical health that improves with positive thoughts. A study done by Barbara Fredrickson of The University of Chapel Hill found that when you are experiencing positive emotions like joy, contentment, and love, you will see more possibilities in your life.
Impressive, right?
When you think more positively, you not only calm your entire immune system but you protect it from any unwanted invaders, and it can even help you to recover more quickly.
Can positive thinking improve our relationships, especially those closest to us? When nearly a third of all marriages end in divorce, the research on expectations in our relationships shows that high expectations cause relationships to flourish.
In short, believing that a relationship will work out raises its chances of it actually working out.
By committing to seeing the good in your partner, or even a friendship, it will be easier to have smoother relationships.
This could mean keeping a note of all the positive things they do for you, or making a list of their most treasured qualities.
What about getting rich? Could thinking more positively about money help?
You might have heard of the other bestseller, Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich. It was a million-copy bestseller because it essentially taught people the principles of positive thinking to attract wealth.
He believes that as well as thinking positively, we must see ourselves in possession of great wealth:
“Hold a picture of yourself long and steadily enough in your mind's eye, and you will be drawn toward it.”
― Napoleon Hill
In order to develop positive thinking about wealth, it’s important to have a money mindset, or a wealth consciousness. This is essentially about developing a love relationship with money.
Changing your attitude towards it, so it isn’t some scary entity that we have an insecure relationship with, fearful that it will leave us, means we can start to embrace money.
We can then see ourselves as abundant, and not feel bad if we are in possession of great wealth.
But why?
Positive thinking isn’t just a one-time event. To be successful, positive thinking has to be implemented consistently, on a day to day basis.
In order to explore why positive thinking may work, we only need to look at habits.
The more often you do something, the more often it becomes automatic, right?
So too with positive thinking. You’ll begin to accept the positive thoughts as a natural part of your being.
Imagine repeating the same thought “I am confident in the person I am becoming”.
Think about how you learned math at school. It took repetition, right?
Practising it once may not feel or do very much, but practise this consistently, and you’ll find that the thought grows, just like a muscle.
After time, just like a seed that has sprouted after careful watering, you’ll find that these positive thoughts have bloomed, just like a bunch of beautiful flowers.
Having trouble seeing the bright side of life? Don’t worry, it happens to all of us.
Remember, no one is 100% positive all of the time. It’s also about accepting those times when you might be feeling less than great. If you repress your negative emotions, chances are they’ll just boomerang back at you at some later date.
It’s just about choosing to be positive despite the circumstances of life.
Life is very much like a tarot reading - you can’t change the hand you’re dealt, but you can change the way you deal with it!
It’s all in your mental attitude.
If you focus on your past successes, it will be easier to pull yourself out of a funk.
Make a note of all the times that you did really well, and better than you expected on a task or project. Or when you helped someone unexpectedly and they thanked you. This helps to take your mind off the negative!
Every evening, write down a few things that you’re grateful for. This will enable your mind to actually start looking out for more things to be positive about.
There is something in the brain called the RAS (Reticular Activating System) which means that once you make a decision to be positive, your brain will seek out things that you direct your mind towards.
Why not listen to a set of positive affirmations daily, like these popular ones.
Putting positive affirmations around your home and workspace can help trigger those positive messages, too. For example, you could have a ‘I am confident, capable and successful’ on your desk, or an ‘I am beautiful’ on your bathroom mirror.
Affirmations, when listened to in the morning and evening, imprint your subconscious with positive thoughts. At first, when you listen to this kind of material, you might not feel very positive.
But stick with it, a repeated thought form becomes a habit!
By meditating, you release resistance. Slowing down your thoughts will mean that less negative ones creep in, and it will be easier to think more positively overall.
Take five or ten minutes each day to quieten your mind - it doesn’t have to be a long time. Just spending that time connecting with yourself is really important to build a positive outlook.
When you meditate, you also come into the present moment. A lot of our anxiety is about the past or the future, so by being fully present we release a lot of concerns and negative patterns of thinking.
It’s hard to be positive in a negative environment. Do you have people around you that speak faith into you, helping you to shine brightly?
Or are the people in your life determined to show pessimism towards you or their own circle? If so, make sure you surround yourself with those who only show positivity and love.
It will strengthen your mind if you’re surrounded by people that are inspired, excited, and positive about life.
Studies have shown that those who journal are more likely to feel optimistic and think positively. This is because you are releasing your emotions onto paper, and they’re not getting caught up in your head!
Buy a nice looking journal, one that you’d be excited to write in every day, and make notes in it daily - you’ll soon see your thoughts transforming.
Unsure as to whether this stuff works? To strengthen your belief, read as many stories as you can find about people that turned their lives around with the power of positive thinking.
The more you read, the more evidence you’ll gather, and it will help motivate you to stay on track if you feel your thoughts are slipping in a negative direction.
Tarot readings can help us see the positive and the light, when we are in uncertain times.
By using the tarot, it can help us reframe our perspective on a situation that previously made us feel sad or hurt.
Tarot can help put things in perspective, so we see the bigger picture.
It can’t replace positive thoughts, but what it can do is help guide us when we are feeling uncertain.
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