Positive Outlook

What do you see in above picture — ‘Half-filled glass of water’ or ‘Half-emptied glass of water’? I will get mixed responses on this question, definitely depending on the own perception of the recipient. Let me share my view later at the end of the article.

Passing the toughest exam in first attempt in 2012, I was on cloud nine with excitement and zeal that I will now be placed in a big corporate with hefty paychecks and everyone will look at me with pride to be like me. However, the circumstances/situations were not in my favor. I got selected only for one company in campus placement having single vacancy and interview was supposed to take place in Chandigarh. I went there with some hope but was shattered to know that the company was not coming for the placement as they had only single vacancy.

I accepted it and then appeared in many offline interviews, shared my profile with the friends asking them if they have any suitable role for me. However, everything went in vain and I did not get any success. It made me restless and I skipped meeting others, having proper diet, and was thinking every negative thought in my mind and eventually got myself locked in the room.

I took that time as an opportunity to self-introspect and realized that ‘Fear of Failure’ and ‘Being judged by others’ were two key triggers to drive my behavior in that way, other than the factor that I did not get a job. I accepted and changed this behavior and now I am a very positive person.

With time so far, I have learnt a few lessons from the encountered incidents and summarized those learnings in the following five words:

• Hope: It is the optimistic state of mind to see positivity and betterment in every situation. It is the hope which strengthens your confidence and foster the positive behavior to take another action in the direction of success. You must be able to reassure yourselves that everything in life happens for a reason.
• Gratitude: Always be grateful for what you have, rather than repenting on the things which are not in your control. Everyone in the world is devoid of something, hence no one is perfect and happy in his own situation. Attitude of gratitude helps to reduce stress, anxiety and improve self-esteem.
• Focus on good things: Challenges and obstacles are an inherent parts of one’s life and if we’re faced with one, we need focus on the good things no matter how small and seemingly insignificant it seems. There is always a proverbial silver lining in every dark cloud which brings Hope for Better future.
• Acceptance: We tend to run from the unfavorable situations because it demotivates us and brings suffering. It requires immense courage to be honest with oneself. Don’t run from these situations, but face them and embrace what trigged the negativity so that we can take remedial actions to overcome the areas of negativity and improve that positive mindset.
• Find out mentors, friends or relatives: Try to find the positive person in your life because both positivity and negativity are contagious. Being surrounded by positive people, you will hear positive outlook, positive stories and positive affirmations that will increase the chances to achieve goals and success.

You are impacted by your attitude and state of mind, almost in every facet of your life. Therefore focusing on the positivity is an integral part of achieving success and make meaningful conversation with others in constructive ways.

Now with positive mindset, I am confident to say that having a glass in my hand is what I admire instead of considering its volume in aforementioned situation. With glass in my hand, I can try to fill it full.