Photography Credit: Robin Zenczak

We all know that age old test of optimism and pessimism- is the glass half full or half empty? If you are not familiar with it, goes as follows: there is a glass with water in; it is clear that the glass in NOT full, but it is said that if you see the glass as half full, you are an optimist and tend to be a positive thinker; if you see the glass as half empty, then it is said that you are a pessimist or tend to be a negative thinker.

I was and still I AM an optimistic person, I am always looking for the silver lining in even the worst situations. Over the years I have been doing a lot of self-growth work: learning to be a Holistic Life Coach (using myself as my first client), cultivating a gratitude practice and finding new ways to apply both my gratitude practice and my optimism for myself, family and clients. Recently, while looking for great motivational speeches on positivity to post to my Facebook page- I came across a speech that used this proverbial saying. This speaker, then used this concept and began to test the idea of whether people can get stuck in negative thinking. I was AMAZED that when I heard this expression, my first thought was, “Who cares whether the glass is half full or half empty… there is water in it!”

How could this be?! Have I turned from an Optimist to a Realist?! Afterall aren’t Realist just Pessimists wearing a great looking suit…? I had much curiosity about this new thought that seemed to pop-up out of no where, so I began to explore it more. I arrived at the conclusion that, in this moment, I had attained a new level of understanding; my thought had absolutely nothing to do with being positive, or negative, or real- it had to do with gratitude. It had nothing to do with thinking anything, it had to do with being. Being in a state of gratitude.

Perhaps this is the difference even- between positivity and gratitude? It doesn't matter how much water is in the glass, there IS water in it. Positivity IS something that takes practice for sure, but one thing I do know is that the relationship between them is reciprocal- each begets the other. Positivity will lead to a gratitude practice and vice versa. When you start to identify what goes right, or what you can be thankful for, then even the most hardcore pessimist can retrain themselves to look on the brighter side and get unstuck from their thought patterns and tendencies toward negativity!

No one says that being positive and finding gratitude is easy, but it is worth it. You can absolutely change your thoughts and energy patterns to shift from feeling unfulfilled to fulfilled and grateful; from pessimism to optimism. There is research that shows actual physiological changes in the brain with behavior shifts. People actually report elevated moods, a greater sense of well-being, more success, increased socialization and overall joy when they retrain their brain to shift its thoughts to a more positive thought process. The best part of all of this is that YOU have the power within YOU to make this change when you are ready. When will you decide to fully embrace the power you possess to make change? What will it look like for you?

How do you start a gratitude practice that becomes a positive attitude practice?

1) Every day write down just one thing you are thankful for. (I guarantee you; you’ll find more than one, but start there.)

2) Take 5 minutes at the end of each week to read what you have written. WALLA- IT HAS BEGUN!

Robin Zenczak, RN, RYT-200, HLC-MBP

Spirited Health