by Shannon Hilson

Created on: October 02, 2009

To many people, actually maintaining a positive outlook in today's dingy, negative world may seem like a completely unreachable goal. After all, moods and attitudes are contagious, as we all know. How on earth can anyone keep a smile on their face, get excited about the future, or see the glass as half full when it seems like everyone else is projecting negative energy at high volume into the space around them? The truth is that optimism, positivity, and happiness are habits the same as anything else and habits can be cultivated and reinforced with a little practice. All it takes is a little time, patience, and dedication.

1. Start by realizing that the change has to start with you.

No matter what you've been conditioned to believe by your upbringing or your experiences in everyday life, no one is responsible for your mood and your outlook but you. Many people seem to automatically blame "bad luck", circumstances, or other people every time something goes wrong in their life. However, it's important to realize that this type of thinking only encourages us to feel powerless and believe that we're not the ones in control of our own lives and our own state of being. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Bad or tragic occurrences will always be a part of life no matter what. It's our job to turn them into productive experiences by learning from them (and taking responsibility for our part in them where appropriate) so that we know how to make better choices next time. When we can do that, we've already made a choice to start growing in a powerful new direction.

2. Surround yourself with other positive people.

As mentioned above, attitude and outlook can be highly contagious. In fact, chances are that if you're a negative person, you "caught" your attitude from those around you already. The solution is to surround yourself with people who possess the type of attitude you yourself would like to have and allow them to help you change the way you see the world just by being themselves. Study their habits and their reactions to life. Positive people smile a lot, they laugh a lot, and they know how to see something beneficial or worthwhile in just about everything - even life's setbacks. They don't beat themselves down with negative self talk and they don't beat others down either. Try imitating what you see yourself. Smile and look for the positive in everything even if you don't feel like it at first. It won't be long before it begins to be second natures

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