‘A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.’ ~Herm Albright


Positivity with a dash of cynicism. I like it.

Positive attitude, gratefulness, happiness all seem to go hand in hand. I have been working on these attributes, these fruits of the spirit, for the past 4 years. It seems weird to think that I have to work on being positive, work at being grateful, struggle to feel happy but it is true. Events unfolded in my life leaving me anxious, tired, bitter and unhappy. The amazing and/or interesting thing is that the events that caused me to feel this way represented less than 10 percent of my actual daily life and yet the resulting negative feelings consumed over 90% of my daily thoughts and actions.

I can not remember what event led me to begin searching, climbing, clawing my way out of that hole. Today, it doesn't seem to be any one event or realization because thankfully I can no longer remember what it truly felt like being that depressed and sad. My point though, is that although I am "healed" from that depression, I still have to work at it. Each day, I make a conscious effort towards being positive, grateful and happy. Here are a few of my steps:

• Become aware of your self-talk and don't allow "stinkin thinkin"

• Be grateful for your life, your gifts, and your people.

• Don’t compare yourself to others but be inspired by them.
  

• There will be bad things, try to find the lesson (or the good).
  

• See failure as a stepping stone to success.

• Surround yourself with those who are where you'd like to be.

• Complain less, smile more.

• Do right even when others do wrong. More importantly, treat others right even when they treat you wrong.

I guarantee if you try these things there will be days that it feels like work! Hopefully the rewards will make it worth it. Things I have accomplished by allowing the fruits of the spirit to work in me:

Baptized into Jesus
Quit smoking
Overcame debilitating depression and anxiety
Raised three kids into adulthood (still working on 4 more!)
10 year relationship that is still going strong
Develop relationships with friends that go beyond the surface
Began writing


In Galatians, regarding the fruits of the spirit Paul says, "against such things there is no law". What he means is these are not seen as good only by those who believe in God. These are known to be positive characteristics by almost everyone, in most eras, in most lands.

Give it a try and be universally correct.

Faith and Hope

Putting your faith in anything is difficult. Most people aren’t willing to risk failure or embarrassment for the possibility of success. We want the good life, but aren’t willing to take risks to achieve goals. We avoid potential success because potential failure is worse. Fear of failure outweighs Hope for success.

Fear outweighs Hope?

Similarly, we won’t have faith because misplaced trust can be painful. We don’t want to get hurt. I think everyone has put their trust or faith in someone and been let down. Gotten hurt. Instead of not having faith in just that person anymore, we begin transferring that mistrust in every Faith situation. And you have to admit, just about everything is a Faith situation. Isn't there a saying, "nothing is certain except death and taxes"? Anything that isn't certain requires Faith. How far does one extend that lack of Faith? Atheism?

Fear outweighs Hope and Faith?

It would seem to conquer Fear you would need to strengthen your Hope and Faith. How, then, do you accomplish that? Lack of faith and hope isn't limited to faith in God. I currently struggle with having faith in myself and feeling hopeful about my life in general.

For me: Reading my Bible, being grateful, praying and focusing on others are a few of the ways I feel I increase my hope and faith on a daily basis. I know that when I don't give attention to these things I feel my fears and anxieties rise.

Please leave your suggestions for increasing hope and faith.

Symptom surfing

I think I am anxious by nature. That is, I think my physiology makes me inclined to be an anxious worrier. So many times, my husband has said to me "just don't think about it". Yeah, if it were only that easy. I also believe experience has played its part. I have been afraid of death and dying since my dad died when I was 12. Then, when my mom was diagnosed with cancer 6 years ago my health concerns magnified. Every ache, pain, bump, lump, mole and freckle causes me to worry.

I have discovered that my worst response to this anxiety is symptom surfing. The internet is not the friend of an anxious worrier. When I google "weird hard lump on my hand" I don't focus on the multiple entries that says benign ganglion cyst. No, I keep reading until I find it could be cancer call your doctor right away! As many times as I have been to the doctor and been told I am completely healthy with a bit too much anxiety, I still worry about every little thing.

I want to overcome these worries and I don't think I need xanax or zoloft which seems to be the doctor's popular response. I have read that anxiety can be hormonal, biological, etc. The best response is healthy diet and regular exercise. So my question is "Why in the world do I continue to symptom surf instead of getting my butt out of this desk chair to exercise?"