Choosing Positivity

I've been reading this awesome blog by Tina Su, this 27 year old gal in Seattle who's title is Chief Happiness Officer (CHO) and I really love so much of what she has to say. Today she wrote a post that really got me thinking about Positive Mental Attitude. You can read it HERE

I remember a few times in my life that I have learned specific lessons in Positive Mental Attitude (PMA). When I was in 5th grade, one of my spelling words for Mrs. Kirkpatricks class was the word "attitude". My dad had these pants - does anyone remember zubas? - that had tons of colorful cartoon fish with huge teeth all over them, and up both side seams on each leg they said "attitude attitude attitude attitude" up to the elastic waistband. So, of course, it helped me to envision those pants during my spelling test.

I remember dad talking to me about how "attitude is everything" and that I could decide each day, and throughout each day how I was going to react to things. I could decide for myself if I was going to be a negative or a positive person! I remember thinking that was really cool (actually, at that point I probably thought it was radical dude) that it was all up to me! I decided then and there, while studying for my spelling test, that I was going to be a positive person.

Speaking of positivity, my friend Robbie got in a crash this morning - but look at his smiling face. What a great reaction to a difficult situation.
Another time I remember learning a direct lesson in positivity was when I was in high school. I was in Chamber Choir, this group that would sing songs and dance around in sparkly dresses and high heels (the guys didn't wear sparkly dresses, they wore tuxedos). We would perform at nursing homes and elementary schools. Anyway, our director used to say that if we raised our eyebrows really high and turned up the corners of our mouths when we sang, we would look happy, and ultimately would trick ourselves into actually being happy about what we were doing. I think for me it worked.

It makes me kinda chuckle right now just thinking about it.

Would you consider yourself more positive or negative?
What lessons have you learned about positivity?