Habitual Optimism - What my dog taught me about positive thinking.

Sparky likes to run!

Whenever I get ready to let my dog, Sparky, out to the backyard, she is ready to move the moment the door opens. She's always optimistic and seems to be thinking, “There could be something out there that’s going to be fun to chase. Maybe a cat! Maybe a squirrel! Something could be out there!” She never seems concerned that the big dog next door might have gotten over the fence again and could be out there waiting for her.

When that door opens, she is gone, almost instantly, to the back fence to take a look. Most of the time there isn’t anything back there. Still, she knows that every time the door opens, there just might be. And, when she comes back in the house, she always checks the front door, just in case someone might have left it open so she could go for an exhilarating run off the leash. She’s a whippet/Jack Russell mix, and would never pass up a chance to run at full throttle.

Is some fantastic opportunity going to present itself to me every time I go out my front door? Probably not. However, if I go through the day thinking something great might be just around the corner, which is the way Sparky thinks, I’m going to be ready when opportunities do arise.

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Who has inspired you with a positive attitude? How can you develop a similar outlook on life? Leave a comment.

Related reading on positive thinking. 

Switching from negative to positive thinking. 

Positive Assumptions. 

Thou Shalt Not Wallow

There was a swamp at the end of the street where I grew up. Beyond the swamp was a highway with a bridge that went over railroad tracks. Beyond the bridge were woods and a Naval Air Station. Those places were a playground of sorts for me and my friends.

The water in the swamp was nasty and the mud beneath it was really disgusting. When traversing the swamp, we did our best to avoid getting wet by jumping from one dry spot to the next.

Negative thinking can be like a swamp. Unfortunately, it’s easy to wade into it and to get stuck in it. Some of the sad things in life – the end of a relationship, loss of a loved one, or health problems – can take a while to get over. On the other hand, some things can throw us off balance for much longer than necessary if we allow them to.

It’s important to recognize when we’re up to our necks in the muck of negativity. It’s also good to have some way to extract ourselves from that. Taking a walk, watching or reading something funny or inspirational, or drinking a cup of tea can do the trick.

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Do you have a tendency to wallow in negative thinking more than you should? Have you found an effective way to shake yourself free from negative thinking? Please leave a comment.

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Prepare Your Mind for Success

A recent outing to Brown's Creek.

Do you see the future as a time when good things might happen, or as a time when good things will happen? 

Preparation is one of the keys to a successful fishing trip. A fisherman needs to check many things before setting out. 

Gear, bait, and license. You need to make sure everything works, and that you have hooks and a knife and the right bait. 

Weather and up to date fishing reports. It’s good to be aware of the tides, what species are hitting and where, etc. 

Knowledge of fishing regulations. There are lots of rules. Keep the wrong fish and you could end up with a big fine.

When I was getting ready for a recent outing, my wife suggested that I bring some ice to cool whatever I caught. I told her that I could get ice at the pier if I caught something.

Her attitude and mine were subtly different. She was thinking I would catch something and I was thinking I might catch something. I decided to pack some ice. 

Have you laid the necessary groundwork to succeed? Are you mentally prepared for success? What will it take to make the shift in your thinking?

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Also, if you have an insight on how to become more positive in your thought life, please leave a comment. 

Murphy's Law Breaker: Positive Thinking for Pessimists, has some of Danny’s humorous and inspirational writings. It’s on Kindle and you can get a free Kindle app if you don’t have one. Check it out at Amazon.com.

More articles on Positive Thinking.

The Power of Positive Memories.

Switching from negative thinking to positive.

Shaking down the highway with positive assumptions.

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Positive Positioning - Right Place, Right Time.

It's nice to be in the right place at the right time.
The day I got this pic was one of those times in my life.

By the time I turned twenty I was making a living and renting a place of my own. After finishing my first two years of college, I didn’t have the resources or the time to continue. There were bills to be paid. I started a small business moving and repairing waterbeds. The  money was OK, but the work was tough on my back.

After a few years, I began taking classes part-time at the University of North Florida. Fellow students joked that U.N.F. stood for, "You never finish," and it did seem like it would take forever. One day I got a call from a customer in a gated community who needed my services. It was Adam Herbert, the new President at U.N.F.

While I worked, I told him I was working towards a degree one class at a time. He encouraged me to stick with it. As I was wrapping up, he told me to let him know if there was anything he could do to help me in my educational pursuits.

I had already thought through what I would ask for if the opportunity arose. I said, “Mr. Herbert, if you have any scholarship money laying around, I could use some.”

He asked me what my GPA was. I had about a 3.5. He told me who to talk to in Financial Aid. Within a month I had enough scholarship money to go full-time. It only took a few semesters to finish.

At least three important elements came into play for getting that scholarship.

• I had a respectable GPA which qualified me for the kind of scholarship Mr. Herbert could nudge forward.
• I did a good job for my customer. Otherwise he certainly wouldn’t have offered to be helpful.
• I was in a positive frame of mind, ready to ask for something when the opportunity to do so arose.

Occasionally, when you ask for something, you might actually receive it. However, the groundwork has to be in place and you have to be ready. Faithfulness in small things can put you into position to ask and receive.

If you got something positive out of this post, please share it with your friends.  The sharing buttons are below. 

What are some of the small things in life that people can do to position themselves for positive opportunities? What has worked in your life? If you have a tip or a suggestion, leave it in the comments.

More on Positive Thinking

Habitual Optimism

Prepare your mind for success

Positive Assumptions

One drip away from insanity. Nip that leak in the bud!

A dripping faucet in a tub can be surprisingly destructive. I left a dripping faucet alone long enough for the water to wear through the enamel and then the cast iron. Since the drip was in the kids’ end of the house, it didn’t bother me much. I periodically applied new enamel but I was treating a symptom rather than the cause.

Eventually, I replaced some parts and the dripping stopped. Before long it came back. There was a tiny part called a “seat” one step beyond what I had fixed. It had deteriorated and it was the cause of the leak. One tiny notch in a small bit of plumbing, like that seat, is enough to produce the type of drip that leads to nervous breakdowns. 

I had to buy a special wrench to get the seat out! After I screwed the new seat in and reassembled the faucet, there was no more drip. Unfortunately, by that time there was lots of corrosion around the drain. I called in an expert. The hidden damage was five times worse than what I could see. It was amazing!

A small problem like a dripping faucet can be very annoying. As I found out, that small problem was very destructive over time. Also, the hidden damage was far worse than what I could see. Spiritual problems can be like that. Although they might seem like small annoyances, they can cause serious damage over time. Beneath the surface they can be more like a spreading cancer.

For example, greed can lead to miserly behavior and criminal acts. Gluttony can lead to obesity and poor health. And a properly nurtured resentment can lead to an obsessive desire for revenge culminating in murder.

As Barney Fife might say, “Nip the drip. Nip it in the bud.”

Can you think of spiritual issues that seem small but which are in fact serious problems? What have you found to be effective as remedies for things like that? 

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If you liked this tip about positive thinking, you might also like Murphy's Law Breaker: Positive Thinking for Pessimists. Check it out.

Defective shoes can sometimes be a perfect fit.

I once bought a pair of walking shoes off the clearance rack at a shoe store I had never been to before. It was a nice store with some of the better brands.The walking shoes were a perfect fit and the price was right at $80.

Within two weeks I noticed a spot where the side of the shoe was separating a bit. It was an insignificant cosmetic flaw. I went back to the shoe store to see if they would do anything about the shoes. While the salesman conferred with the manager, I tried on another pair of shoes from the clearance rack. They fit perfectly.

When the salesman returned, he offered me a choice of either a full refund or $60 if I wanted to keep the shoes. I liked the shoes so I took the second option and applied the refund to the pair I had just tried on.

I ended up paying $120 for two pairs of shoes that had previously retailed for well over $300. The way I was treated made me a customer for life. Why would I go anywhere else?

If I had been in a pessimistic thinking mode I never would have gone back to that store because I would have assumed that nothing good would come of it.

A positive outlook makes many things possible.

Have you ever had an experience where something wasn't quite right and it worked out very well in the end? Leave a comment. 


If you found this post useful, share it with your friends and colleagues. The sharing buttons are below.

You can find more of my writings in my ebooks, including Murphy's Law Breaker: Positive Thinking for Pessimists. Check it out.

More articles on Positive Thinking.

Habitual Optimism

Positive Positioning

The Mind Garden

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