The Day I Decided To Be A ‘Glass Half Full’ Kinda Person

I distinctly remember the exact moment in my life, at the age of 18 (now 40) when I made the decision that I was going to live my life as a positive person, a ‘glass half full’ kinda guy – even though I had tested the waters of negativity and had quite enjoyed the secret pleasure that comes from wallowing in negative and judgemental self talk.

I was doing ‘extras’ work in The Thin Red Line, driving long distances to location and back, running off boats onto beaches in Far North Queensland with heavy packs and guns and wet boots and it was gruelling and I was totally miserable.

Too late, it occurs to me, my mistake!

The mistake was being an extra for a war movie when in reality I was looking for something more Moulin Rouge!

But I had this amazing life defining moment!

I kept the complaining to myself as I wanted to appear manly and competent in front of the 300 other extras, though my Jackie Collins novel with the hot pink cover that I pulled out of my war pack for the down time may have given my game away!

Anyway, Phil was there.

I knew Phil from around town and he always had a big smile on his face and a genuine, enthusiastically positive reply every time he was asked how he was and I’d observed that people used to light up when he walked into the room because he just exuded positivity and joy!

I observed Phil throughout this time on location and saw how people behaved around him – his cheery attitude was contagious and made what could have otherwise been a horrible experience into a more bearable one for everyone.

It was then I decided to live my life in a positive way – I wanted to have that same effect on people when I walked into a room and I’ve been working hard on it ever since!
And it is hard work!

But being a positive person has also allowed me to recognise life changing opportunities as they come to me and as an extension of that, taught me how positively talking about my wants and dreams (out loud, to anyone who’ll listen) lets the universe know what I want for my life.

And it’s amazing how often the universe delivers on requests, even in these challenging and weird times that we are living through!

By Linc Jenkin