The first step in turning your life situation around is letting it be OK that you feel whatever you feel right now. Sometimes I call that place, "phucketville". It's not a bad place; it's an honest place; when you don't know where to go, might not feel the greatest and just want it to be OK that you feel negative, lost, and sometimes even sorry for yourself. One of the most powerful steps toward a positive life is being honest about how you're feeling and then deciding what you want to do with those feelings, situations and life dilemmas. Positive people come out of learning how to use negative, difficult and challenging situations to produce positive, effective outcomes; that starts by noticing what you feel and embracing whatever it is, so you can use it!

Someone once told me that worry was a misuse of imagination, and I couldn't agree more, but at Rainbow in the Puddle our view on worry goes like this; worry is a misuse of imagination but if you turn it around, the flip side is problem solving. Most of us realize on a logical level that worrying really doesn't improve our well-being, but we don’t think further into how we can use that worry? Let’s make sense about it; if you’re worried about your health and you know you are doing some pretty unhealthy things, then a little worrying may prompt you to change things, and that’s a good result out of worrying!

I truly believe that it's essential to realize that negative situations, feelings, emotions, and experiences are sometimes the most motivational factors and opportunities life can offer you to really jump start a positive life. If you think about anyone you admire, respect, or look up to in your life, you'll find one common denominator; they used whatever negative situation they had and turned it into an opportunity to gain something, share something, or do something that enhanced their life and maybe even the lives of others.