Handling Life’s Challenges Positively

Belief can be a great thing. As what most people would say “believe in the power of the mind.”

In a journal article The Impact of Anticipating Positive Events on Responses to Stress (2015), Monfort, Stroup, & Waugh reported that the experience of positive emotion throughout the stress process is integral to good physical and mental health. Having a positive mindset does not warrant that you will seamlessly reach your goal. Moreover, the study suggests that anticipating a positive event is uniquely related to decrease negative emotion. Consequently, brought by being optimistic, you get to overcome the challenges.

Oprah Winfrey was born to an unwed teenage mother. When she was staying with her grandmother while her mother looked for work, she learned to read very well. To combat difficulty during her teens, she stayed with her father to be guided. Then, she became one of the best students brought by her training and discipline from her father. Her career started to flourish after winning the Miss Black Tennessee beauty contest and moved to Baltimore to join WJZ-TV News as a co-anchor. Brought by the massive reception, she was offered to lead her own talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, and the rest was history. “Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it,” according to Oprah. Those words kept her going during the trying times of her younger years until she became who she is today. She learned that failure doesn’t mean that your dream is unreachable, but you must try to be consistent to get hold of that dream until it is yours. Oprah’s adaptable to change kept her innovative in her business strategies that made her one of the most powerful women in the planet.

This is why positive beliefs are so critical because it spell the difference between success and failure in everything you do. Regardless of your educational attainment, social status, or even the level of confidence, there is a high probability that external factors will interfere on your path. So, stay focused and conscious of your actions on how you respond to life events and be sure it’s a positive one.

Source:

Monfort, S., Stroup, H., & Waugh, C. (2015). The Impact of Anticipating Positive Events on Responses to Stress. Retrieved from http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0022103114002066/1-s2.0-S0022103114002066-main.pdf?_tid=3ba431e8-9a17-11e4-8869-00000aacb35f&acdnat=1421038710_677fbddf2cda6394f28f54f47a6f23be