At HoneyGood.com, and in the Good family, “Positive Thinking in 2020” is our New Year’s resolution. After reading my true story, I think you will agree.

I sent out several holiday emails over the last few days. One message was to a Honey Good contributor whose practice is Positive Psychology. In my email, I said, “I wish you were able to teach your method of dealing with life’s ups and downs to the world.” While this statement may have sounded dramatic, I meant every word. The study of Positive Psychology is an uplifting game-changer in the field of Psychology. It explains how to view your circumstances in a positive manner and to use the power of positive thinking.

What is Positive Psychology?

“Positive Psychology is a scientific study of human flourishing and an applied approach to optimal functioning. It is the study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals, communities, and organizations to thrive.” Positive Psychology focuses on the ‘good life’ or positive impacts of the human experience that make life worth living.

No One Grows up Unscathed

Let’s face it Darlings, none of us grew up unscathed.  And, I dare say, many of you still haul around your past negative baggage. I learned, quite by accident, there is a way to deal with negativity and to turn it into positive thinking. What a truly ‘Aha!’ moment it was when I realized this!

How Writing Transformed my Life

As a disclaimer, let me be very clear, Darlings. I am a woman without professional or specialized knowledge in Positive Psychology. However, at the beginning of the year 2019, I experienced an epiphany, a sudden revelation, that I simply must share. I realized that every unpleasant circumstance I had ever lived through ended in a positive outcome if I was able to face adversity with positivity. This realization, I call my ‘Aha moment,’ took my breath away. I was overwhelmed with surprise, delight, and joy! I acknowledge that this sounds very drama-rama, Darlings, but nevertheless, that is exactly how I felt. Positive thinking is that powerful!

Nothing good happens in life by accident. My epiphany did not occur overnight. It took five years of writing authentic stories about my life and my thoughts. When I began my blog, the furthest thing from my mind was analyzing my stories, experiences, or feelings. But by writing openly about my experiences, family, friendships, travel, likes, dislikes, and so on, I was by default, exploring my life experiences and my feelings in greater depth. Then, one day the door of my life opened, and I had a magical and transformative awakening.

You see, Darlings, I knew I was a resilient and empathetic person before I began writing. I had never really thought, however, how I came to be this way until my epiphany in 2019.

An Emotional Awakening

Some time ago, I wrote about how I felt as a young girl in a minority, growing up for the first 18 years of my life, in Kankakee by the Sea. The discomfort that I felt during these formative years led to an overall negative feeling about this period of my life. In fact, due to these experiences, my thoughts continued to be negative for years and years later. Until one day in 2019, the negative door of my life in Kankakee by the Sea closed and a positive door opened in its place. I came to understand that my time in Kankakee by the Sea was actually a very positive blessing in disguise.

What I came to realize, Darlings, is that a person’s negative experiences empower them to use their survivor skills. These skills, in turn, can become great strengths, allowing one to change their negative emotional feelings about an experience to the positive. I took away from Kankakee by the Sea two powerfully positive attributes.

• My survivor takeaway: Resilience-the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties.
• My emotional takeaway: Empathy-The ability to understand and to share the feelings of others from all walks of life.

You see, I would not be the same, positive thinking person that I am today without those experiences from my youth in Kankakee by the Sea. And, as I’ve told you before, Darlings, I really like who I have turned out to be!

The Moral of the Story

The moral of the story is to recognize the positives you take away from negative occurrences that are still bothering you. When you accomplish this, your negative baggage will disappear from your past and you will think in a different light when faced with future upsets—at least that is my hope!

Upon experiencing my epiphany in 2019, I felt as light as a feather. It felt as if I was gliding freely through the air because I understood how to close the door on negativity. I remember physically sighing. No longer would I allow negative experiences to weigh me down. The power of positive thinking would hold me afloat forevermore!

Options You can Explore to Awaken Positivity in 2020

There is a medical field called, Positive Psychology. If you need to clear out your excess baggage, make an appointment with a Positive Psychologist. I believe you will also learn to float on air!

Alternatively, try to keep a private journal or to write a blog. Recording your experiences and feelings allows you to confront them, to recognize their impact on you, to ‘clear the air,  to let go, and to move on if necessary. You can accomplish wonders by writing daily with authenticity. With this new superpower of positive thinking, perhaps you can even become your own Positive Psychologist!

Positive Thinking in 2020

You have a few days left this year to buy a journal or to set one up on your computer. Instead, perhaps you will use the next few days to seek out the finest Positive Psychologist in your area. Whatever you decide, you can make 2020 your year to incorporate positive thinking into your life.

Wishing all of you Darlings a very sweet and positive New Year in 2020.

For further reading about positive thinking, you may enjoy this article: No Sugar Coating Life: Only Positively-Realistic Expectations Here.

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