Looking at life through a positive lens.

Negative things tend to happen more than the positive, and alot of time I often wonder and ask why, but no definite answer. Life seems simple but also complicated, and a perfect example is the saying that “one man’s food is another man’s poison”. Growing up, I have always seen or heard about bad things happening to others, but not me or my immediate relatives. In most cases, I had often struggled with what to say to the affected person in order to console or comfort them.

All these changed immediately I finished secondary school, as I could remember alot of time when my dad would ask me questions about when I would gain admission, as if I was the one processing it, and I would get to hear alot of comparisons. It was at this period in my life that I understood that tears shed by a man do not count. I would console myself by taking to the moon and planning my escape route to leave the house, but eventually I got admission, and trust me, I never wanted to go back home.

Why am I saying all these? Well, I believe that before one can have a positive view of life, one must have experience both positive and negative, as they eventually shape who we are today. I have had my fair share of negativity, such as Job rejections, disappointment, loss of a loved one, lack of money, and so on. I will be explaining a little bit of what I did to overcome them.

Let me start by explaining what a positive view of life means to me. It means that irrespective of what I am going through, I believe in myself and that God will and has seen me through. There are times I make some personal decisions (like what to do first) and business decisions (like should I risk it all or partially), and all these decisions are backed up with a strong belief that they will all go as planned. Trust me, it’s in this period that you would see or hear about people with similar experience that failed. What I tell myself is that I should learn from their mistake and they have only failed because they gave up. Having a positive view of life means that goals can either fail or succeed, but irrespective of the outcome, you keep retrying and never give up.

Whenever I am having a bad day, I think about my loved ones and their high expectations of me, and this sometimes helps to motivate me. If this does not work, I play any of my favourite songs; in fact, I am currently playing John Legend - All of Me (Afro soul). These musics helps to uplift my spirit and body because I sometimes find myself shaking my head or hands. If it does not work, I simply leave my house and walk around or visit people, and this always makes me value life, as there is always someone out there with a bigger problem than mine. If this also does not work, I could try other things, self-appreciation, or engaging in other activities, because in life, things might not always go as planned, so have as many backups as possible.

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This is my entry to week 56, episode 02 of the weekly featured contest for reading, and the topic to be discussed is Having a Positive View Of Life.