She refused to let me give up on schoolwork. She spent hours sitting with me through my frustrated tantrums and then kept teaching me the lessons asked of my teachers. She refused to let me view myself in a negative light, which I inherently possessed. She showered me with positive talk and words, which had nowhere to go, but through my ears and into my consciousness.

She refused to let me believe there was something I could not do. Her words of encouragement, regardless of my task, allowed me to believe I could do anything, and become anything. She taught me how to love myself, believe in myself, love the world around me, love others and never stop trying.

My mother took it upon herself, while working full time and raising a family, to spend an inordinate amount of time with me to change my perspective.

He believed if the mind could conceive it, he could achieve it (Napolean Hill).

He believed in solving problems by trying things, failing and trying more things.

He believed in trust and belief in others.

He believed that nothing could keep him down, regardless of how hard he fell.

He believed in resilience and embracing change.

My father made certain I saw the value of hard work, heard the words of belief, and understood that positive mental attitude drove personal success in one’s career.

I could not escape the sunshine through my life with the positive thoughts of my parents. They aggressively stomped out negative tendencies and helped me see the choice and power of a positive perspective.

Today I am considered a positive person and someone who handles relationships, life and challenges with a positive mindset. My attitude was challenging and even concerning as a young boy. By the time I was in third grade, I had developed low self-esteem, had trouble in school, had issues with friendships and easily held the description as a “negative” person. I am certain I would have remained that way if not for the positive influences in my life. They formed my personality by changing me forever.

The world that gave me purpose and direction was positive. That experience set the stage for the future – for my outlook, and for the manner in which I handled a future that included “life,” a reality that is made up of awesome, terrible, beautiful and ugly.

Each one of us developed our personal inclination from experiences. The people around us and the circumstances in which we lived, influenced us.

We all know that maintaining a positive mindset is a choice.

We all know that we are located somewhere on the “positivity continuum.”

We all know that it is challenging, but not impossible, to move from a negative mindset to a positive mindset.