I’ve been on top of the world. I’ve also been under it. Or at least felt like its full weight was crushing down on me. What I’ve learned from those experiences is this:

It’s a lot easier to stay positive when you’re standing on the pinnacle of your world, but it requires little faith.

Faith in God and faith in yourself is never tested when you’re high on the mountain. You may be thankful or grateful, but you’re “faith” only extends as far as confidence (or hope) you will not fall.

It isn’t until we feel the world on our shoulders that we are actually blessed with the opportunity of putting faith into action. When times are the hardest is when we discover true faith, because those are the moments that require we believe in something we may not see or feel. The Bible put it this way in hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Faith (whether in God or ourselves) demands that we are just as appreciative in the bad times as the good. It is with faith that we can remain confident and stay positive, because we know that things will get better. We may not see it yet, but we can believe it.

Here are some things you can do to help yourself stay positive:

• Pray. I realize not everyone who reads this believes in God, but for those who do, there is nothing more uplifting than prayer and Bible reading
• Positive affirmations: When you wake up, tell yourself with as much zeal as if you just won the lottery, “Today is a great day!” Look yourself in the mirror and repeat it a couple of times. Make sure you smile as you do.
• Go online or pull out some books and read positive quotes and stories. The libraries and internet are full of stories of underdogs who conquered the most adverse of conditions. The one thing they all have in common is they knew they would overcome. You, too, will overcome your situation.
• Force yourself to smile
• Refuse to speak or listen to anything negative – every time you hear or say something negative, immediately replace it with three positive thoughts
• Count your blessings…again and again. You may not think you have any, but every morning you wake up is a blessing in itself; do you have someone special in your life? Family still alive? A pet? A job? Can you see? Hear? Speak? Do you have a car? There are many things for which we should be thankful every day, but we take for granted