❼ 10 Things I’ve Learned from Annoyingly Optimistic Friends

I used to think that I could control people by being miserable.

The idea was really simple.

Express misery with absolute clarity – this will make sure that everybody is on their best behavior.

Be careful of expressing too much happiness – it might make people relax and not run around to please you.

These tactics worked really well for me.

…until I messed everything up by paying attention to the optimists in my life.

Simply put, they didn’t live this way.

These are the 10 things I’ve learned about positivity from all the annoyingly optimistic people in my life.

1. Negativity is a muscle built over time
2. My happiness is my responsibility
3. Other people’s happiness is their responsibility
4. If you’re lucky enough to find somebody that makes your happiness their responsibility, take it as a gift – not as a right
5. When I’m sad, I need to stop what I am doing (or thinking) and switch to something that cheers me up (see #2 above)
6. You cannot punish anybody by being miserable
7. You’re not “rewarding” others by being happy and positive
8. If you stay negative, you will eventually lose everything positive around you
9. Positivity is a choice. A hard one…but a choice nonetheless
10. Positivity is a muscle that can be built over time

Your Turn

• Are you a natural optimist, realist or pessimist?
• What have you learned about positivity lately?
• What’s your favorite song?