"A positive attitude gives you power over your circumstances."

“A positive attitude gives you power over your circumstances instead of your circumstances having power over you”. I feel like this quote embodies a common benefit to positivity that goes unnoticed. Positivity gives you control of your perceptions.  Our perceptions are simply the way in which our brains interpret our external reality. It might be best to think about it like a machine. Our external reality works as an input into the machine. The machine changes the input into something else, and then on the other end we get an output, which in this case is our perception. With a lens of positivity, we can mold these inputs into a form that is better received by our brains and body.

This positive lens can be created a number of ways. For instance, you can look for the benefit of the doubt as well as emphasize the good parts in certain situations. You can also assume good intentions in other people. When negativity does present itself in your life, you can use these techniques to show that it isn’t all so bad, and you can focus on the less threatening parts.

The alternative to this, which is mentioned in the second half of the quote, is circumstances have control over you.  This implies that you are subject to the way that life happens to you, and that lack of autonomy can lead to negativity. 

So remember this,“A positive attitude gives you power over your circumstances instead of your circumstances having power over you”. Take ownership of your personal development, and your perceptions.