A Practice Speech in a Stanford Continuing Education Program
July 13, 2004
Life is full of ups and downs. Otherwise, it would be very boring. Some people tend to pick only black and blue and indulge in self-pity and endless complaint. Look at bright colors as well and enjoy the full spectrum of life.
Why be positive?
You do not need 200 points in an IQ test to enjoy life. You may argue that you are not foolish enough to be blindly happy. But do not let your high intelligence ruin your ability to appreciate the beauty of life. You can be intelligent and happy at the same time. Positive attitude is a personal choice; you choose to be positive. Positive attitude is a life strategy; you recognize the existence of dark side of life but you plan yourself not to be distracted by noises. Positive attitude is a firm decision; you are determined to concentrate on important things in life, i.e., appreciation and creation.
Life is a gift, just like a large basket of marbles; if you spend a lot of time on picking out the ones you do not like, you would not have enough time to enjoy what you do like. Being negative and being picky is a waste of life gift. Life is for you to explore, to cultivate and to enjoy. Be realistic with mother nature; do not try to fight with nature, instead, make peace with it, and make the best of it. You can’t say “nuclear” properly? That’s fine and live with that, because it’s not perfection that counts in the end.
Positive attitude enhances your strengths and starves your weaknesses. It supplies oxygen to your inner fire and drives you forward in hard times; and it’s through hard times that you build more strengths. In a difficult situation, positive attitude protects you from overwhelming frustration and worry, and helps you focus on creating solutions. Positive attitude can also edify others and help achieve team success. Your smiles brighten your own heart and mind, and also enlighten others and stimulate constructive psychology and emotions around you.
How to live a positive life
Be so kind that be kind to yourself. Stop defeating yourself. Have faith because you are alive for a good reason. Never forget looking at the bright side in life. You are well equipped and you have all it takes; whatever it is that you choose to do. You may just need to discover yourself.
Make good use of the power of encouragement. Praise, recognition, and all kinds of encouragements bring much more improvements than criticizes and punishments. Dale Carnegie and his theory have been a great success. His secret is positive attitude in people interactions.
Put things in action. Put your resolution in action. Act when you decide. Of course, actions result in both failures and successes, expected and unexpected. Do not be surprised by surprises. Learn from surprises. Mistakes and failures lead to success, and success avalanches more successes
Conclusion
To summarize the talk, I shared with you reasons to be positive and suggestions on how to live a positive life. Positive attitude is a personal choice. It is a life strategy, a decision. Positive attitude helps yourself and influence others to achieve more, and ultimately yields a better world. So trust yourself and others, be positive, and act today.
还读了你的其他的文章,佩服你的学识。
保持积极乐观的心态,快乐其实是自己决定的。