I had a friend ask me a question not to long ago that really led me to do some thinking. "How do you manage to stay so positive all the time?" You never seem to have "bad" days she said.

Truthfully the thing is physically I have plenty bad days. I'm convinced more than my fair share of them. To a certain extent this is something over which I have no control. However, on the other hand her assumption was right in one respect. Mentally I never have "bad" days and I believe it's for one simple reason ? I never forget that the thoughts that I allow to remain in my mind are completely within my control. I can think whatever I want at anytime. I can change my thoughts from something that I don't want to think about to something that I do want to think about in an instant. At any give moment I can go from powerless to fully empowered. This of course is no big secret. So can you.

A lot of you don't want to hear this but you have more control of your life's experiences than you're exercising. Taking charge of YOU requires discipline. It requires going through life at a pace that you're able to remain aware of what you're thinking. Thoughts lead actions. It's not, or shouldn't be, the other way around. I hear your wheels turning, "Clyde, it's not that simple". It is that simple. Is it easy? Maybe not, but it is in fact that simple.

The controls to your life's experiences are right there. Whether or not you use them is on you.

You have absolute control over whether or not you allow an intended insult to be an insult. You have absolute control over whether or not you're going to allow yourself to be upset by an event or circumstance or if you're going to smile right through it accepting it as just another classroom experiment.

To help you understand where I'm coming from here's a little background. Internally I turn everything into a game. A game between the Clyde I want to be and know that I am and that Clyde that wants to get loose and reek havoc in my life. Simply put-the good Clyde and the not so good Clyde. The not so good Clyde is always attempting to goad the good Clyde into committing a foul or playing outside the rules. Always sending in thoughts like "you can't do that, you're not good enough!" Or reminding me of a time when I may not have met my own standard. And to make the game even more interesting the not so good Clyde often gets help from the fans in the stands in the form of slights and mean intentioned put downs. Ah, but the good Clyde is well aware of these little tricks of the game and understands that if he doesn't allow himself to feel anyway about these negative messages good Clyde wins, not so good Clyde loses. End of game.

Friends if you're still riding that emotional roller coaster of good days, bad days I just wanted to let you know it doesn't have to be that way.

Go out and make this your best week ever! You've got the power. Are you going to use it?

Live some. Love some. Learn some. Everyday.

C...

Clyde Dennis, a.k.a. "Mr. How-To" has been writing and publishing Articles and Newsletters online since 1999. Clyde's company EASYHow-To Publications provides "How-To" information on How-To do, be or have just about anything one can imagine. For more information visit http://www.EASYHow-To.com. Email correspondence for Clyde should be sent to: cdennis at easyhow-to.com