“The road to positivity is strewn with the abandoned vehicles of the faint-hearted.”~Peter McWilliams

    Editor’s Note: This article was contributed by Heather Johnson.

    Each of us experience setbacks in life, all of which provide us with valuable lessons about the human condition. It is not the setback itself that influences your future, but rather how to react to the negative situation. You’ve heard the adage many times about turning lemons into lemonade, right? Well, this sentiment is absolutely true and can tremendously improve your quality of life.

    Turning a negative experience into something more positive isn’t always easy. In fact, some of the most tragic moments in our life seem never-ending when we are experiencing them. However, there is always a way to take a bad situation and extract something positive from it. Below are five ways to do just that.

    1. “This too shall pass.” That is what you should initially tell yourself when something bad happens. Repeat those words in your head and even aloud if it helps. The important thing is that you do not panic, as this will only exasperate the negative experience. Every bad moment in your life will end, which can be a comfort during the worst of times.

    2. Find purpose in the experience. Some people believe that everything happens for a reason. While you may not buy into that philosophy, you can at least give each experience a purpose. Try to think of a lesson that the experience has taught you. Did you meet a new friend while going through this time? Did you learn how not to do something?

    3. Keep your sense of humor handy. This applies to everything in your life. Almost every situation allows for a bit of levity, so remain humble and try seeing the humorous side of things. Even if it isn’t appropriate to joke about something aloud, you can make humorous observations in your mind to keep you on a positive track.

    4. Don’t dwell on negative moments. You will not help anyone by stewing in a moment that has already passed. Whether you were hurt, embarrassed or both, the negative emotions you felt before should not remain fresh in your psyche. If you continue to dwell in the negative, you will never find your way out again.

    5. Set a new goal to work towards. As I said before, you should never dwell in your past negative experiences. Sometimes it is hard to get out of a funk, however. The best way to rise up from a bad experience and move on from a situation is to set new, positive goals to focus on. This will give you something good to strive for and will take your mind off whatever has occurred.

    “通往樂觀的道路上布滿了膽怯和自甘墮落的車輛。”——馬克威廉.皮特

    編輯的批注：這篇文章是由黑特詹森撰稿的。

    我們每個人在一生中經歷著一些挫折，他們給我們帶來了關于人情世故的寶貴的教訓。挫折本身不僅影響你的將來，而且影響著你如何面對消極的狀況。相信你已經 聽過這個諺語很多次了吧，是關于把檸檬變成檸檬汽水的，是嗎？很好，這個觀點完全正確并且可以很大程度上改善你的生活質量。

    把悲觀的經歷轉化為樂觀的經歷并不總是容易的。事實上，當我們正在經歷一些悲觀的事情時，這些悲觀的時刻在我們生活中似乎永無止境。但是總會有方法度過悲慘情況的，并從中學會積極面對。以下是五種變樂觀的辦法。

    “這會過去的。”當你遇到一些挫折時，你必須一開始就對自己說這句話。如果有幫助的話，在頭腦里不停得重復甚至大聲對自己說。重要的是你不要驚慌，否則將會加劇你的消極情緒。你生活中的一切不好的事情將會過去，在你最糟糕是時候，他們將會成為一種安慰。

    在經歷中找到意義。一些人相信萬事皆有因果。也許你不相信這個哲理，但是你至少可以在每一次的經歷中尋找到意義。試著想想每一次經歷教會了你什么。在這次的經歷中，你認識了新朋友嗎？你學會了不懂做的事情了嗎？

    隨時保持你的幽默感。這適用于你生活的點點滴滴。幾乎所有的情況都允許一點浮夸，因此在保持謙虛的同時也要看到幽默的本質。縱然有時不適合大聲說玩笑，但是你的頭腦中有些幽默的點子會讓你駛入積極的軌道。
    
    不要墮落在悲觀時刻。對于已經過去的事情，你再煩惱也不會對任何人有幫助。你是否受到傷害，尷尬或兩者你都受到，在之前感到的悲觀情緒不應該再保留在你的心靈上。如果你繼續停留在悲觀，你將永遠也不會找到出路。

    以后的工作設立一個新的目標。正如我之前所說的，你不要停留在過去的消極經歷中。有時在恐懼中走出來是不容易的，然而最好的辦法是在糟糕的情況中脫離出來重新開始新的人生，新的積極目標并為此努力奮斗，這樣你就會忘掉過去發生的不好事情了。