PositLive Music: “Better Days”
“Better Days” Written by: Ryan Tedder, Brent Kutzle, and John Nathaniel Released: March 25, 2020 The writers of this song, including lead singer Ryan Tedder, were inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic (Source). The promise of “better days” is in the context of a global pandemic. However, the lyrics to the song can be applied to any situation in which we might feel helpless. This song is about having hope that better days will come whenever we’re faced with such situations. Select PositLive Music: Lyrical Playlist to view all playlist songs as they’re being added.Select Exploring New Ways to PositLive to read about the inspiration for PositLive Music. “Better Days” Sung…
PositLive Music: “It’s All Right”
“It’s All Right” Written by: Curtis Mayfield Released: October 1963 This song is a declaration that “it’s all right.” It was originally recorded by The Impressions with singer-songwriter, Curtis Mayfield, as lead singer. Mayfield would always write songs inspired by things he’d hear people say. “It’s all right” was said by fellow band member, Fred Cash, while performing in Nashville as they discussed the future of their group (Source). “It’s All Right” Cover sung by Jon Batiste & Celeste It’s All Right: Lyrics from “Soul” Cover Say it’s all right.Say it’s all right.It’s all right, have a good time‘Cause it’s all right, whoa, it’s all right. Now listen to the…
“If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you’ll never enjoy the sunshine.”
This quote, by Morris West, is about always anticipating the worst. But always having a mindset that something’s about to go wrong is like always “waiting for the storm.” In the meantime, we don’t enjoy the sunshine now. So when there is no storm and things are good, let’s not waste the sunshine worrying that something bad is about to happen. In doing so, the things that should make us happy now are either ignored or overshadowed with worry. Let’s do our best to enjoy the sunshine when it comes. And when there is a storm, let’s learn to “dance in the rain.”
“Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…it makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
This quote, by Melody Beattie, reminds us of all the things a sense of gratitude can bring. All these things ultimately bring us clarity and peace of mind. Besides turning what we have into enough and more, gratitude turns denial into acceptance. When things don’t go as planned, being grateful for what we still have and anything we learned in the process makes it easier to accept and not be in denial of what happened. By finding the positives in our past, we come to realize that things do happen for a reason. Life’s confusion and chaos can become a bit clearer. And when we apply the same sense of…
“It might have been done before, but it hasn’t been done by you.”
There is so much excitement when a baby takes their first step. Yes, countless others have done it before. But that doesn’t make an infant’s first step any less exciting. It’s easy for us to remember and celebrate major “first time” moments like this. Other ones might be our first day of school, first time on an airplane, or first job. The list goes on. But there are so many other “first” moments in life that go unnoticed. They slide under the radar with no thought or recognition. This quote, by Elizabeth Gilbert, brings up an interesting reflection: We are literally making history within our very own personal life story…
“It’s not what you say out of your mouth that determines your life, it’s what you whisper to yourself that has the most power.”
If you were to transcribe all the words that come out of your mouth and also all the thoughts that run through your head and compare both documents, would they be similar or divergent? Would someone reading it think they are words spoken by two completely different people? Which of the two transcripts would be more positive? The words said out loud or the words said to yourself? This quote, by Robert T. Kiyosaki, reminds us that the words we say internally are just as powerful–if not more powerful–than the words we say out loud. Moreover, it reminds us how important it is to make sure both narratives are aligned.
“It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.”
Having motivation isn’t always easy. It’s even harder when it comes to doing difficult tasks. Not to mention, difficult tasks in which we’re unsure what the outcome will be or we don’t believe the outcome will be positive. Simply put, it’s hard to be motivated to do something we ourselves don’t think will work out. This quote, by William James, hints at the fact that we need to start out believing things will work out in the end. Otherwise, the difficult tasks before us are made even more difficult, if not impossible. With the wrong, negative attitude, we’ll think: What’s the point of trying if this isn’t going to go…
“An optimist understands that life can be a bumpy road, but at least it is leading somewhere.”
There’s nothing worse than feeling completely hopeless. Maybe it has to do with your career, finances, relationships, happiness–whatever the case may be. This quote, by Harvey Mackay, reminds us that life is a bumpy road. Nevertheless, the road leads us somewhere. An optimist knows that there will be hills and valleys on the road to various destinations. So those low points aren’t going to last forever. Not only that, it’s only by experiencing the valleys (the low points) that we can appreciate the view from the hills; and we better appreciate the journey we took to get there.
What It Means to Live Life Positively During a Global Pandemic
Here on PositLive, it’s all about living life positively. As we continue to face tragedies and uncertainties every day, it’s becoming more difficult to do that. While PositLive means living life positively in the good times and bad, I would be remiss if I don’t explain exactly what that means in the situation we’re in. Why take the time to explain this? Because things like positivity, strength, courage, faith, fearlessness–all the things that are encouraged on this site–can easily be misinterpreted. I want to make it clear that those wonderful attributes should not in any way justify actions that might put yourself and those around you in harm’s way. In…
A Look Back on a Decade
Without fail, the end of any year brings about a lot of different lists of the top highlights or memorable moments that year. It’s the time we look back, momentarily. And then we begin anew, focusing our sights ahead on the new year. As I reflect on not only the past year but the past decade, there are a few memorable events that happened that I want to give recognition to before we move on into 2020. While we’ve pedaled backward in some areas, we’ve made some progress in others; and that gives me hope. Here is my very short (I don’t want to bore you) PositLive list of highlights…
