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THE POSITIVE CHOICE
If you’ve been reading The LIFT for a while, you may have noticed, I am a rather positive person. ‘Relentlessly positive’ are a couple of words people have used to describe me. It can be annoying sometimes, I know. I try not to be obnoxious about it, but I can find a positive intention or outcome in every situation. Even terrible ones.
I heard a quote this week…
No matter how thin you slice it, there will always be two sides. - Baruch Spinoza
There’s a lot of truth in that statement + it got me thinking. We always have a choice. Not so much about the situation at hand, but about how we react to it - how we interpret it - how we see it. Sometimes it’s a hard choice, but it’s ours to make.
Positivity is a practice. At least, it is for me. I know for some people it comes more naturally. But, for me, it’s something I actively practice. Constantly turning things around. Like flipping a coin.
Note: I didn’t say ‘tossing’ a coin. I said flipping. What’s the difference? Tossing is throwing the coin up in the air. Flipping is something you do when the coin has already landed.
THE COIN TOSS
We are all familiar with the coin toss. Toss a coin. Call out heads or tails. And whatever the outcome, someone wins + someone loses. It’s a common practice in sports. It’s a common way to resolve a dispute or to choose sides.
I think too many times, we live life this way. We pre-determine the outcome we want. We wait for the coin to land. When it lands in our favor, we celebrate (positive). When it lands on the other side, we accept the outcome (negative) - as if that’s where it stops.
Good news! Life is not a coin toss.
When life throws something your way, it doesn’t stop there. You get to choose. Either accept the face value of what’s there or flip the coin.
If the coin lands on the ‘wrong’ side, flip it over! It’s allowed!
Life is a series of coin tosses. While we tend to call heads or tails in advance of the coin landing, that’s not where our power lies. Our power lies in calling heads or tails AFTER the coin drops.
We don’t have control over how the coin lands, but after it lands, we have all kinds of control. We decide. Accept the face-side-up at face value + be victim to the outcome or flip it over.
With all that’s going on in the world right now, it’s a good time to practice this. Practice positivity. And please, I am NOT talking about ignoring the negative. You can’t do that either. I’m talking about intentionally choosing to find + amplify the positive. Wherever you can find it.
When that coin lands in front of you, remember - that’s not where the game ends. It’s where it begins.
YOUR MISSION:
This week, I challenge you to become a coin flipper. Every time you see something negative, stop + give it a flip. What is one good thing that you can imagine on the flip side? And, if you’d like to share your thoughts or discuss, leave a comment below. Let’s chat!
RESOURCES:
WATCH: Tips On Changing The Way You Feel | Tony Robbins
READ: 7 Tips To Stay Positive In Negative Situations | Lifehack
READ: 10 Ways to Stay Positive in a Negative World | Everyday Power
READ: How to Stay Positive: 11 Smart Habits | The Positivity Blog
IN SUMMARY:
Peace starts inside each of us. It’s our job to cultivate that peace. To intentionally allow that peace to thrive - even as chaos stirs around us. Rather than resist the outcome, let’s practice flipping the coin.
See you next week?
P.S. If you’d like to look back at a previous post, you can access all of them here.
Thanks for the metaphor and challenge!