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Copper Quist
English 101, section 13
Instructor: Steve Krauel
Power of
11-16-2015
The Power of Positivity
If you think back to your recent past, can you name a time when you were excited about
the future? What about a time when you saw a slim-to-none chance for life to give you what you
wanted, but you still hoped for it and did your best to get it? Both of these examples help to
illustrate our own experiences with positivity.
Very few of us consider the value of positivity in our lives. We appreciate the positive, the
good humored and the well-intentioned, but we are often ignorant of its role in our own lives.
This is perhaps because we are unaware of what positivity is, or what it actually does for us.
Therefore, the intent of this paper is to explain some of the nature or character of positivity and
its role in our spiritual, professional and personal lives.
To understand the character of positivity, we need to understand hope. Hope is the idea or
belief of something good to come. It is trust in a better and brighter future. The Apostle Paul said
For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he
yet hope for? (Bible, Romans 8:24, King James Version). Pauls statement is clear, if we see it,
why hope? Positivity is the next step beyond feeling there is a future; it is thinking and acting on
that hope. It is widely accepted by all that positivityor optimism as it is interchangeableis a
worthwhile value.
There have been a number of studies on the subject of positivity and spirituality. The
results have been insightful. One study said We found a somewhat stronger association between
religious/spiritual beliefs and positivity, which is consistent with the hypothesis that religious or

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spiritual gain is an important aspect of positivity (Sodergren, Hyland, Crawford, & Partridge,
2004, p.171). They continued, religion may promote stress-related growth by facilitating an
individuals search in meaning in a crisis. So, positivity is a core element of faith. The answers
to the great questions of the universe, found by many through religion, give a sense of hope and
optimism for the future. It is clear that positivity and spirituality are directly connected. It can
even be said that the more spiritual you are, the more positive you are likely to be.
The other connection of religion and spirituality to highlight is the view of ones self
obtained by spirituality. A different study found that our ability to cope with lifes challenges and
feel hopeful towards the future is from spirituality (Livi, Alessandri, Caprara, & Pierro, 2015, p.
231). We see ourselves as having a purpose and a promising future, so we are positive and
willing to act towards it. The ability to press forward and endure with positivity is a result of
increased self-image. It is from our spiritual beliefs and intentions. As was said by Gura in his
YouTube video in March of 2014, If you want to really cultivate positive thinking within
yourself, you have to start to take on this idea that there is something deeper going on in life.
As we consider positivity in the realm of professional life, we have to be sure to clarify
what a professional life is. It is the culture or environment in which all of our professionalor
more formaldealings are conducted. This is the workplace, whether it is a public or private
one, in which we give our time. For this section, consider the workplace in a traditional business
sense. Mohanty shows in his research that human values like positive attitude and optimism not
only promote good life but also improve the workers living standard by raising his/her
employment probability (2009, p. 259). The effort and quality we put into our work is a
consequence of our positivity. We will only give as much as we see it is worth. Additionally, we
find that positivity not only changes our results in the workplace, but that the impact is also felt

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on others. [There are] negative consequences of low positivity at individual and group levels.
These consequences are aggravated when people low in positivity are surrounded by others low
in positivity. Yet this should not lead to premature conclusions to the disadvantage of people low
in positivity since even people low in positivity may perform at the same level as people high in
positivity when they are surrounded by very positive colleagues (Livi, Alessandri, Caprara, &
Pierro, 2015, p. 234). We can fit into either category, and perhaps we do, but it will have an
impact on the feelings of others beyond ourselves.
Ultimately, positivity is something personal. We honestly only have to live with one
person all of the time, and that is ourselves. We need to feel motivated when we are by ourselves,
because we will always find ourselves alone at some point. If we were to see the world through a
lens of optimism, we would naturally find our lives reflecting our expectations and perspectives.
Likely, positive people are better equipped to cope with stress and difficulties, and thus have
greater personal resources to invest in their work (Livi, Alessandri, Caprara, & Pierro, 2015, p.
234). Those who are motivated to continue onward in the blind spots of life are the ones who feel
they play a part of something bigger. A person with a positive attitude always sees the brighter
side of every situation . . . [and] concentrate[s] on good aspects only with the conviction that
whatever is going to happen will work out well. Positive attitude thus brings optimism to life,
and makes an individual an ideal human being in any society (Mohanty, 2009, p. 259). They see
the silver lining so to speak. The world is a place of both negative and positive results. But, the
truth is, the results are only negative or positive because we say they are. The core of positivity
is understanding that every problem, every challenge that you have, is ultimately an opportunity
(Gura, 2014). The way we see the results is a bright example of our positivity. If the consequence
is a painful, but valuable learning experience in our eyes, then it is positive. If it is instead a

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painful and damaging experience, then it is negative. It is entirely up to us what we choose to

see.
So, if we want to realize the nature of positivity in our spiritual, professional, and
personal lives, we need to see positivity for what it is. We need to remember that true optimism
is a product of ones inner positive thinking and therefore is valued by the society as an ideal
human characteristic (Mohanty, 2009, p. 259). We have to determine how we will think and feel
about the future. There is much more to be learned about this, but we have what we need to be
able to take the steps forward in our lives. In the scriptures, we read that Adam fell that men
might be, and men are that they might have joy (Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 2:25). This is a
scripture filled with positivity. Men are, and they can have joy! So it shall be, if we will be
positive.
References
Gura, L. (2014). Positive Thinking The Key to Thinking Positive [YouTube video]. Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtJ5ColgEm4
Livi, S., Alessandri, G., Caprara, G. V., & Pierro, A. (2015) Positivity within teamwork: Crosslevel effects of positivity on performance. Personality and Individual Differences, 85(10),
230-235. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2015.05.015
Mohanty, M. S. (2009). Effects of positive attitude and optimism on employment: Evidence from
the US data. The Journal of Socio-Economics, 39(2), 258-270. doi:
10.1016/j.socec.2009.12.004
Sodergren, S.C., Hyland, M.E., Crawford, A. and Partridge, M.R. (2004), Positivity in illness:
Self-delusion or existential growth? British Journal of Health Psychology, 9(2), 163174.
doi: 10.1348/135910704773891023

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