Besides how great you feel when it’s fueling your life, another reason to keep practicing positivity is the resilience it provides you when you collide with one of Murphy’s Laws.
The positive factors you build into your experience are what life and executive coach Eleanor Chin calls the “durable personal goods,” resources you can tap when you’re traveling a patch of road where happiness is scarce.
Emergency Provisions
Having a good measure of positivity under your belt is like having a full emergency pantry when a blizzard strikes. You can dig around in the dark and find a flashlight or a candle. The shelves at the store might be bare, but you have a can opener and a good stash of baked beans.
Positivity researcher Dr. Barbara Fredrickson discovered that people who enjoyed more positivity in their lives were better prepared to deal with life’s challenges—even the heart-rending, tragic ones, the ones that devastate us.
Coping with 9/11
After the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers, Fredrickson found that while people with a history of positivity felt the same fear, anger and sadness as everyone else, they coped much better.
They were better at accessing feelings of inspiration and awe over the way people came together and reached out to help one another. Their levels of compassion outstripped even their anger, sadness and fear. They could access more optimism about the future, despite the devastating events, and greater curiosity about unfolding world affairs. And even though life had dealt us all a crushing blow, positive people were quicker to get back up.
The Crucial Factor
In fact, Dr. Fredrickson found that positivity was the crucial factor that determined someone’s resilience. Summing up her data, she says, “In short, we discovered that resilience and positivity go hand-in-hand. Without positivity, there is no rebound.”
Positivity contributes to a strengthened sense of self-reliance and self-esteem, both qualities of resilient personalities. It leads you to develop your awareness of your personal value system, to know what really matters to you, and teaches you to exercise your values in all the arenas of your life. When the chips are down, you know where to put your focus and which of your personal strengths, Chin’s “durable personal goods,” will best serve you.
Positive people connect with others easily. They’re able to tap their networks when they need help or support for themselves or for others.
Positive people tend to have goals and to have projects cooking; they’re proactive. They have experience in facing and overcoming practical challenges. They know the power of patience and perseverance in getting things done. And they have a hardy sense of playfulness, too, that brings the grace of light-heartedness to stressful situations.
While investing in positivity has its immediate rewards—a richer, deeper, healthier, happier and more satisfying life—like a star, it really shines when the skies are dark. It adds bounce to your step when things are going well, and bounce-back when you need it the most.
