I don’t believe in coincidence. I believe our thoughts create our fate and the vibes we put out there are the vibes that come back to us. Think of it as a boomerang effect. If you’re happy, you spread happiness and if you’re angry, well all it takes is five minutes of watching the evening news to see what happens with that emotion.

The thing is, our thoughts and feelings affect everything we do and experience in our lives from the time we wake up in the morning till the time we head to bed.

I know, you’re thinking this is too simplistic, too easy, too “new age” but I’m telling you, it’s true. Changing our perspective and thoughts can change our lives.

I’m not alone here. This mode of thinking is as old as dirt and I’m gonna be honest here, but I haven’t been practicing this way of thinking for a long time.

Thing is, I wasn’t always negative. Actually, when I launched MAJAMAS, I was unstoppable. I had a clear, positive vision of where I wanted my company to go, who I wanted to work with and where I wanted to be. I conquered all I aimed to do with a positive force no one could stop. But in the last few years, I lost it. I felt myself getting tired and combined with all the negative vibes in the world right now, I’ll admit, I got caught up in the negative spiral. I became cynical, less motivated and downright depressed. I went from loving to work with people to dreading contact with not only my customers but even some of my friends. Every day started to feel mundane and even the smallest tasks felt difficult.

My father-in-law died recently and I’m not sure if that was the catalyst to wake me up but his death got me thinking about my life. He was 96 and fully connected. He told wonderful stories and loved his wife of 71 years. If his little body hadn’t failed him, he’d still be here now. I believe death has a way of making the living reevaluate their lives and after he died, I found myself alone on a long car ride home to Chicago.

Remember, there’s no such thing as coincidence… So I was flipping thru the radio when I heard an interview by the author of a book published 13 years ago called The Secret written by Rhonda Byrne. This book is about how our thoughts affect our lives and how important it is to dismiss negative thoughts so positive things open up to us. What’s wild, and again, not a coincidence, is the day after I returned to my office, one of my employees asked if she could play the audio book for us as we worked. Again, not a coincidence. This isn’t a new book! Just the Universe kicking me in the head to listen….

So if you pick up this book, play the audio version or better yet watch the movie The Secret on Netflix, I’m not gonna lie, you’ll probably be a bit put off by the hippy vibe of it. It feels dated, corny and a bit whack but I beg you to get past all that and force yourself to listen to the message. Interviews with philosophers, pastors, Quantum Physicists and more confirm that the thoughts we think impact our lives for better or for worse.

So yeah, those days we wake up cranky sets us up to have crappy days and yeah, the days we wake up feeling positive and grateful will make our days amazing.

After hearing this, I decided I was going to give this way of thinking a try and do my best to be a “Pillar of Positivity”. I mean, what do I have to lose? So I vowed no more complaining about people… this is VERY difficult for me… no more complaining about work or that pain in my knee.

I have made it my mission to be positive and as soon as I start feeling any other way, I force myself to pivot to a better place.

I’ll admit, the first two days doing this was easy. I was inspired to receive happiness and even ended up having a pretty great weekend but once I got to work on Monday, well, let’s say staying happy proved to be a bit more challenging. I walked into the office and saw a pile of returns/exchanges, not what you want to see as a retailer. We had some miscommunication on orders and it basically felt as if everyone I came across wanted a piece of me. I’ll admit, the Universe was testing my strength and I may have lost my composure a little. I think these things happened so I could see that by responding to any issue with anger will only send me more problems.

It’s funny but I’m seeing that the way I think impacts not only my day, but my life. The Secret tells us that when we worry about our health, our health gets worse. If we worry about getting too many bills, well, we’ll just get more bills. So instead of worrying or even thinking about bad outcomes, I’m doing my best to pivot to the positive.

We can’t control all our thoughts, but here’s what I recommend starting with and before you know it, you’ll be a Pillar of Positivity too:

1. As soon as negativity seeps into your thoughts breathe and force your mind to erase the negative thought.
2. Put on music that makes you happy, hum your favorite song or close your eyes and smile for a minute.
3. Pet a dog, watch a goofy cat video or think of any animal that makes you happy. Even staring at green grass for a minute or two will change your mood.
4. Go on a media diet for 3 days a week. This was tough for me cause I like to stay informed, but the positive news will find you. Keep up with your causes but act to change them so you help to create positive outcomes.
5. Show you love someone by sending them an encouraging text, call them or heck, hug them. Love is a powerful force… um… I realize I sound like someone stumbling out of the Woodstock concert of 1969… but it’s true.

Take this as far as you want to go…

I’m counting on this drastically changing my life and I hope by sharing this way of thinking with as many people as possible, it will change our world. Positive thinking, which includes having empathy for others, being charitable and kind to others will make our world so much better for all of us.

Don’t freak out about your past way of thinking. As soon as you start being more positive, your world will become more positive.

I would love to see this attitude go viral. Share it with your friends, family and coworkers and join ME in making yourself a Pillar of Positivity. Let’s check back with each other in three months to see how our lives have changed. I guarantee you, if you stay the positive course, you will be healthier, wealthier and happier and well, there’s no down side to that!

– Germaine Caprio, Company Owner & Designer

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