I fully believe in the process of looking on the brighter side, it’s my way, it works for me. Each and every day is a day of opportunity, good things can happen and more often than not, when I expect good things to happen, they usually do.
It wasn’t always this way. Having undiagnosed ADHD most of my life led to a lot of heartache and tragedy. I was constantly in the mode of waiting for the other shoe to drop and the other shoe typically dropped very hard indeed. What I have learned is that we usually get what we expect and to a degree we can create our own life-forecast. It’s true.
How many times have you heard a hard luck story of a person that was far worse off than anything you have experienced and the story goes on to tell about that person rising from the ashes of defeat only to go on to be ultra successful and happy? We hear these stories all the time and we wonder how in the world did they do it? Did they have a guardian angel, win the lottery or just get real lucky? Maybe they read a good book that gave them information they were missing? Maybe they had a ‘moment’ of revelation when they finally understood everything?
My ultimate goal in my books, here on my blog and our social network is to get your hopes up! Way up! I want your hopes to soar high in the sky, higher than they have ever been. And you want to know why? One word:
Perspective.
Perspective is everything. It’s the most important lesson I have ever learned and I continue to learn how valuable perspective is. Your perspective of yourself will never fail you, because you will work tirelessly, and your subconscious will work even more so, to meet your perspective. If you believe there is a way, then you will eventually find a way. If you believe that there is no way, the doors are locked and there is no hope, then, sadly, that will be just as true. The direction we take, for better or worse, is due to our perspective, not our condition.
You might think, well this puts the blame on me and it isn’t really my ADHD that’s causing me problems. Not really, what I am saying is if your perspective is that you can never overcome the symptoms and you will never find help that really works, then in that case your perspective will win out. However, if you believe you will find the right assistance and you will find the right way, individualized for you, then you will find your way and again, your perspective will win just the same.
There’s always hope, no matter how deep inside it may be buried, if you expect good things to come your way, then they will. But, if you doubt that and believe you have no chance then you will never find a way. It’s as simple as that and nothing truer has ever been written, that’s what I have come to learn and I believe it with all of my heart.
As I have said so many times, we are all much better than we sometimes think we are. Indeed, we have the potential to soar high and feel satisfied and happily so. I perceive my child to adulthood story as a boy rising as a fiery phoenix and I hold that vision in my mind, heart and soul, constantly. I know I am overcoming and not letting anything get in my way. That’s my perspective. I continue to rise like the fiery phoenix and I believe you can too, but whether you believe that or not, that’s up to you – it’s your prerogative to have whatever perspective you choose to have. Whatever your perspective is it will develop your life’s story according to it.
A positive perspective doesn’t mean you won’t continue to have challenges. It doesn’t mean that there won’t be setbacks and it doesn’t mean you won’t have heartaches. But, what it does mean is that you won’t be overcome by them and you won’t allow them to control you. Our perspective is powerful. When we recognize that and take advantage of this knowledge, the sky is the limit! And in this day and age, the sky doesn’t have to be your limit either.
Before I was diagnosed with ADHD I truly thought my life was one of bad luck and ill fortune. Through therapy and reading great motivational books, such as Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking and buying into it, I learned a new way of life. It’s one thing to read about positive thinking, but to buy into it, that’s a whole other story, outcome and future. For many of us it is more natural to argue against it and continue as aways with low expectations and low outcomes. Buying into it though, that takes us somewhere else. Why is it those that believe firmly in positive thinking seem to do better, feel better, build others up along the way and find ways to accomplish things, which given circumstances shouldn’t seem possible? It’s called positive for a reason. It’s not magic, it just seems like it when we haven’t ever truly experienced it.
I am not to blame for having ADHD and the ramifications of living with it undiagnosed for so long, no one is, but even if I was, it wouldn’t help me to allow it to control my future. I have a more positive and constructive mindset now and I have the ability to create the future mindfully. Actually, I realize I have always had that ability and I have always used it even if I wasn’t aware of it. The difference is that I didn’t know I had a choice; therefore, based on my experiences, it was quite negative.
In my next article I will explain why positive thinking doesn’t work in the short run. If you try it for a day, a week or a month. There’s a reason why it doesn’t seem to work and it is this reason many give up on it before they reap the benefits of positive thinking. Why? Well, that’s the next article. I’ll give you a hint though: experience and familiarity.
~Bryan
