You might think that you have to have a happy life before you can look on the bright side of it, but it is actually the other way around. Looking on the bright side of any situation changes your view of that situation. Do it often enough and it changes your view of life.
Here is an example of how that works:
A few years ago, I met a guy in the elevator. Both of us had just come in from outside. It was pouring down rain. He was much wetter than I was, so he had obviously been out in the rain much longer. In an attempt to make conversation, I said something like “It’s mighty wet outside.” He responded, “Yes, it is, but at least it isn’t snowing or really cold. I’ll take this weather any time over that stuff!” Notice that he didn’t complain about the rain or about being wet. He was too busy looking on the bright side!
When you do that, the first thing that happens is that you put the current issue in perspective. All of a sudden, being soaking wet doesn’t seem so bad. Take that one step further and you’re actually feeling lucky that it isn’t snowing or cold. That brings us to the real benefit of looking on the bright side. Every time you do that, you are ever so subtly shifting your thinking from feeling unlucky to feeling lucky. Imagine how much happier your life would be if you felt lucky all of the time!
Here are some other situations and possible corresponding bright side responses:
Hard to get out of bed this morning? Remind yourself that you get to sleep in on Saturday.
Forget your lunch today? This will give you a chance to try that new sandwich shop!
Bus feeling too crowded? It least you got on…better than having to wait in the cold for the next one!
See how this works?
I deliberately chose relatively minor issues for my examples because looking on the bright side is a habit that has to be developed. It might be more difficult to apply it to really big things in the beginning. Once you develop the habit, though, you can apply it to more and more situations. Then, before you know it, you are feeling like life is really good regardless of what happens to you.
Try it yourself and see how much happier your life can be!
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