As he walked away, a bystander who had observed all of this walked up to the businessman and asked, "Does he always treat you so rudely?"  "Yes, unfortunately he does," answered the businessman.  "And are you always so polite and friendly to him?" asked the bystander.  "Yes, I am," said the businessman.  "Why are you so nice to him when he is so rude to you?" the bystander questioned.  The businessman smiled and then replied, "Unfortunately that man has a negative attitude, but I do not.  I have no intention of permitting him to give me one.  To permit him to annoy me would be to permit him to ruin my day.  I have no intention of doing that.  If he wants to be unhappy, that's his decision and only he can decide to change it.  But one thing is for sure and that is, I'm not going to let him decide how I'm going to feel or act."

Positive thinking is a way of life rather than a momentary thought.  It is an ingrained habit rather than an occasional way of thinking whenever we feel down or depressed or when it looks like things may not be going as we want.  Being a positive thinkger is the ability to have a positive outlook on life.  This in turn promotes positive patterns of thought and actions that make you feel better, think better, and perform better.  Positive thinking is a much healthier state of mind than the draining powers of negative thinking.  People who have a positive view of life see the world as a good place.  They actively seek out the good in other people and situations.  Positive thinkers are simple people who have learned how to discipline their attitudes of mind to their advantage.  It is an acquired mental skill.  As Emerson wrote, "The measure of mental health is the disposition to find good everywhere."  in other words, happiness isn't something that comes to you by chance, it comes to you by choice.

What happens if you start your day with a positive disposition and you are confronted with a negative experience as the businessman encountered with the newspaper vendor?  Well, this is one of the most important qualities of a positive thinker -- they do not allow external forces to determine how they feel!

Positive thinkers understand that they have a choice on how to react to a given situation and that choice is theirs.  Their attitude and frame of mind is something over which they alone have complete control, not anyone or anything else.  They understand that it is not events that happen in their life, but rather how they react to the events.  Positive thinking can also be defined as the "I can" opposed to the "I can't" way of thinking.  It is believing in your possibilities and disbelieving in your doubts. 

Positive thinking is not an excuse or a cop-out to avoid reality.  It doesn't mean you deny the existence of obstacles in your life, but that you expect to master those obstacles.  Develop the habit of positive thinking, and you will in turn keep in proper perspective the pessimism so prevalent in our society.