Develop a positive attitude

‘Attitude’ is perhaps the most important word found in the dictionary. It simply means a way of thinking about somebody or something or behaving towards somebody or something.

There are various types of attitudes: public attitude, sexist attitude, professional attitude, positive attitude, and negative attitude. Although attitude is usually a way of thinking, your thinking may manifest itself in the manner you communicate your thoughts to others. It is here we encounter positive and negative attitude.

Those who see the bright side of things have a positive attitude towards others. On the contrary, those who see the dark side of things have a negative attitude towards their fellow beings. As a result, people with a positive attitude succeed in life. Meanwhile, those with a negative attitude fail to enjoy success in life.

Positive people expect the best of a situation and they usually get it. On the other hand, those with a negative attitude always get frustrated. We meet these two types of people wherever we happen to be.

William Faulkner (1897-1962), the Nobel Prize winner for literature, was a school dropout who worked in his grandfather’s bank. He later joined the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Although he did odd jobs from time to time, Faulkner had a positive attitude towards his literary work. Before he became a literary giant, he had to change his attitude towards his craft several times.

For instances, his early works were relatively unknown and they received no appreciation from critics. Thanks to his positive attitude, Faulkner is no longer a regional curiosity.

If you treat attitude as a mental focus on the outside world, you can change your focus as and when it is necessary. Your attitude can be compared to a camera with a focus, because you can change it. Sometimes, it can help you to find positive results in a desperate situation.

A person with a positive attitude knows how to turn failure into success. There are many living examples in our midst to prove this point. For instance, many of our leading businessmen were utter failures at the beginning, with a little bit of positive thinking they have been able to reach the pinnacles of success.

If you have a positive outlook, you will see the beauty of the world wherever you go. Those with a negative attitude always see heaps of garbage, criminal activities and suffering in the world.

This does not mean that you should be blind to the ugly aspect of life. But why do you want to harp on the dark side of life, when there is so much beauty bubbling around you? Enjoy the beauty of nature and then try to make this world a happy place for others.

Sometimes you will finds it difficult to adopt a positive attitude in a hostile environment. Newspapers, television and the radio highlight all the negative incidents in society.

Everyday you are compelled to read stories of gruesome killings, daylight robberies, snatch thieves, corruption in high places and bribery.

An inexperienced person who reads such stories in newspapers might come to the conclusion that the world is coming to an end. In fact, some people claim that the world will be reduced to ashes in 2012! This is the height of stupidity and negativity.

If you look at society without wearing coloured glasses, you will realise that crimes are committed by a negligible minority. Even in a university ragging is done by a handful of frustrated undergraduates. The majority are a law-abiding clean lot. Unfortunately, they are never in the limelight. Mediamen have a readymade excuse for not giving publicity to good citizens. They say, ‘Good news is no news”.

All over the world newspaper readers and television viewers have been psychologically conditioned to savour negative stories. Positive stories are played down as if they are not so important. Fortunately, children do not read news items about robberies or killings. They are more interested in birds and pets. However, when they become adults, they begin to enjoy negative stories.

As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, it is only in the State media you can read or view positive stories. The private media, though they claim to be independent, are deaf and blind to development projects launched by the government.

Attitude is a changing concept. It will not stay the same all the time. Therefore, if the media can adopt a positive attitude to life, they can change the thinking pattern of the people. Otherwise, all the talented people will leave the island for greener pastures thinking that they are living in another Chicago. Those who are directing the destinies of media houses can do a lot to improve the image of Sri Lanka.

The media are responsible for allowing the people to adopt a negative attitude towards life. When you hear negative stories all the time, your positive attitude takes a back seat.

Although optimism is productive, nobody can adopt an optimistic attitude all the time. If you try to be optimistic in all the situations, your attitude becomes unrealistic. For instance, if you are at the receiving end of a serious disaster, you cannot afford to be optimistic of the new situation. On such occasions you have to find a way out without thinking that the disaster is a blessing in disguise.

When life’s myriad activities run smoothly, you will find it easy to maintain a positive attitude to life. However, your positive mindset is constantly under test. People and situations are bound to challenge your positive attitude.

Temporary setbacks should be expected. But you must be able to bounce back with added vigour and force. Those who win in the end are the people who constantly bounce back.

Our natural propensity to think in positive terms is unlimited. You would be happy to hear that negative attitudes are man-made. Therefore, it is easy to get rid of them. You only need to overcome fear and negativity through love and positivity.

There are many stories connected with positive and negative attitudes. In one story, two men were serving a prison sentence. One day one prisoner looked out of prison bars and saw the mud. His colleague also looked through the same bars, but he saw the stars!

According to another story, a newly - married couple were enjoying their honeymoon in a hotel room. The bride was annoyed to see a fly moving through the air and sometimes disturbing her precious moments.

“Kill this fly or call the manager,” the bride demanded.

“Oh, don’t worry dear. The fly is trying to get out of this room. Just let me open the window and it will fly away,” said the bridegroom nonchalantly.

Tel: 038 2238338