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Forward-Thinking Leads to Positivity

By Cédric Beauregard, Grade 12
Today, I will be talking about negativity, something that is very common among many of us, and something I am still struggling with to this day. Most of the time, we tend to perceive a problem that is substantially small on a much larger scale and tend to think more negatively about the reality of how much it really matters. When dealing with a minor problem, it is easy to blow it completely out of proportion before even thinking about how to deal with it.
 
As I entered high school in Grade 7, I was a very self-centred student who saw no light or positivity in anything I would do and would always complain about everything. Nothing was ever good for me, and nothing would ever suit my needs. I had a negative mind and would tend to focus more on the negative points of my life rather than the positive ones. One bad grade was like failing the whole year, or one bad game in a sport was like having the whole season being a fail. I was constantly being told by many to be more positive and to stop being so negative.
 
As I grew up, I started to question myself on how to change these negative thoughts into positive ones. I decided it was time to change my view and started to try to break down what really matters and what doesn’t. I most importantly started to focus on the things I can control, realizing that I cannot change the outcome of my last test, but I can change the outcome of my next one. I cannot change how I played my last game, but I can change how I will play in the next one. I decided to focus on the future instead of the past.
 
It became clear that it is all about seeing the positive side of things and focusing on moving forward and not looking backward. Sticking to the past and not looking to the things that truly do matter limits you from having the positive outlook that you should be looking forward to. Focusing on the past will only limit your future. When you waste energy on negativity, you lose energy that could be used for more positive things later in the day. Life is always going to be difficult and filled with obstacles, but if you know how to handle them, you can control them and spend less time worrying about the things you can’t. Your life will be happier and filled with more positivity.

I will leave you with this quote from Steve Backley, a former track and field runner: “A mind filled with negative thoughts makes you feel miserable and inadequate and will lead to failure after failure no matter how hard you try to succeed.”
 
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