Being positive means having faith in the future. It means focusing on solutions and not on problems. It means being open to new ideas, new concepts and being able to think outside the box.

The positive person can see reality such as it is and does not need to say that things are rosy when the are not. Unless a challenge is well appraised and understood, it cannot be solved. However the positive person will tend to see the challenge as a stepping stone and not as a stumbling block.

Being positive is a constant challenge. It is said that it takes seventeen positive experiences to negate one negative one. Life has its share of challenges so, in order to remain positive, the emotional battery has to be recharged constantly.

There are a great many ways of recharging the emotional battery and none will be effective for everyone. Each of us has to find what works best for him or her. A person who tends to be introverted will be better served by reading a positive book or viewing an inspirational video while an extrovert will find the same inspiration by associating with positive people.

Be it as may be, recharging the battery has to be done on a daily basis if it is to be effective. Zig Ziglar used to say, "Skip a meal but don't skip your daily inspirational moment."

The brain follows the GIGO principle. That is, Good Stuff In, Good Stuff Out... and Garbage In, Garbage Out. It does not fail. If we feed good and positive material to our brain, it will create a positive state of mind. However, if we allow the bad news peddlers to influence us, the state of mind will be affected accordingly.

The difference in the quality of life that we enjoy depends on what we chose to focus on. If we chose beauty and quality, that's what we'll experience but if we dwell on the negative, it will take its toll.

The state of mind, positive or negative, is also highly influenced by our posture. Walking tall and erect will send positive vibes to the brain whereas the slouching and lazy posture will affect us negatively. It is impossible to stay in a depressing mood for a long time when we stand or walk like a champion and it is also impossible to be enthusiastic for any length of time when slouching like a loser.

Being positive means faith and hope. It does not mean shying away from reality. It means that we are convinced that sooner or later we'll come out on top and that we will prevail. It's that simple.

Dr. Raymond Comeau aka Shamou is the Author of ShamouBlog http://www.shamoublog.com/forum/index.php and Administrator of Personal Development for Personal Success Forums.