We all face adversity in life, it’s how we react to it that determines our joy in life.

When we deal with our everyday life, we can become overwhelmed. We can lose our motivation to continue on. Our failures from the past cause us to second guess ourselves and in turn, we question why we should keep trying.

During these times, it is important that we focus on the challenge at hand and remind ourselves that each day is a new day. Failures or mistakes can help us learn and become stronger in our belief in ourselves. This helps us look forward and realize that we can make our present better.

We have the ability and the choice to make our present time as positive as we want. Challenges can be seen as a heart ache, as an insurmountable event. We can beat ourselves up and question why this is happening to us or we will never get over such a happening.

However, trying to see the positive in a situation can help us bring good things to us. Yes, it isn’t always easy but if we practice thinking and saying positive things during the good times, we will be able to find the positive thought to say when we are fasted with adversity.

We can start listening to ourselves when we talk to someone. When the conversation is over, we write down or ask ourselves, “How could we have said that in a more positive way?” We try to ‘catch’ ourselves being negative and rephrase the statement with positive words.

Another way we can practice is to start a “Gratitude” Book. We begin with writing in a journal all the things we can think of that we are thankful for. Then each day we list at least three things that we are thankful for. Ideally, we do this twice a day, once in the am and once before we go to sleep. We do this for at least 30 days so it becomes a habit.

Each day we have a choice to face life in a positive way or in a negative way, no matter what comes our way. We are blessed with choice. Only we determine what kind of day and life we will have.

Remember: We all face adversity in life, it’s how we react to it that determines our joy in life.