Are You an Eeyore?

Who doesn't have a fondness for Winnie the Pooh and his friends? Living in harmony in the woods? Usually sounds idyllic, doesn't it? Eeyore, the sad-sack donkey, however, doesn't think so. All the bumps in life are awful. Terrible things will happen no matter what you do.


In these challenging times, do you find yourself being negative more often than not? Do find your answers starting with "yes, but". Do you convince yourself that nothing can change? Have you become an Eeyore?


It's really easy to fall into the habit of thinking of the negative first - or only thinking of the negative. These are difficult times for some, let's not sugar coat it. Although some industries are finally recovering, for others it's still tough going. I believe though, that we'll all get back there in the end. The question is how long will it take each of us?


I'm a believer in positive thinking. Not because it cures everything, because I don't believe it does. I do believe however, that thinking positively leads us to better decisions. I live by my mother's philosophy. "There's a reason for everything" and "everything works out for the best". That's the voice of the reasoned optimist. Yes, bad things happen but we'll learn something from them AND we'll get through them.


Negative thinking can force us to only see the bad. Pushed to its extreme, we don't bother to see even the glimmer of light that could help us find our way out. When we continue our search for that glimmer, we see things differently; we make different decisions based on our outlook.


Winnie the Pooh is confident that things will work out. Yes, it's scary to have your head caught in a pot of honey but someone will come along to help in the end. Eeyore will only see that the pot might be broken while trying to get it off his head - not the rescue. Lovable as he may be, Eeyore is very unhappy regardless of the outcome. Do you want to be an Eeyore? Didn't think so.