There is a glass with water on the table in front of you. Do you see that the glass is half-full or that the glass is half-empty? Being realistic includes both pieces of information. Last month we considered that if the glass is your present situation in life with the empty portion being what you desire to leave behind and the full portion what you aspire to, being realistic enables you to identify how it got half-empty so it does not become emptier. Similarly, you can focus on the fullness, and figure out how to make it overflow with what you desire. Your perspective is what you choose it to be and you can change it anytime. Once you have examined your present situation realistically, it is time to fill your mental arsenal with an optimum outlook to support the change you desire to manifest. Are you a positive thinker or a possibility thinker? Did you know there is a difference between the two? Understanding the distinction enables you to integrate them in a way that can greatly facilitate your ability to transform your life. Let us explore.

Adopting a positive attitude is an excellent way to attract what you desire. Your present circumstances are the results of your previous choices, attitude and core expectations. If you want your circumstances to change, a positive attitude is vital to help free yourself from the aspects of your present you wish to transform. It can serve as a bridge from where you are to where you want to be. Ultimately we create what we believe our reality will be which is why having a positive attitude about what lies ahead will help it come into form. Sometimes you may feel as though you are treading water in the vast sea of your present conditions, behaviors and beliefs. For most of us, the perceived reality we hold feels just as immense and inexorable as an infinite ocean with no land in sight. A positive attitude can be the life preserver that moves you from the illusion of powerlessness to the dry ground upon which you can begin to build a new present.

Years ago when I moved to New Mexico with very little financial resources, I faced a crucial need for immediate full-time employment. After submitting myself for several jobs without any calls for interviews, I began to consult people in the community for help. I soon discovered that my East Coast resume in addition to my recent move was partially responsible for my difficulties. Employers were reluctant to consider new residents from the East Coast because the majority of those who trained for new positions found the disparity in the environment undesirable and moved back within six to nine months, leaving the employers with the task of searching again. While I understood their dilemma, I still needed work and fast.

The core beliefs I had operated from for years told me I was not worthy of what I wanted and I was supposed to suffer. If something fortuitous developed, I expected something equally unfortunate to threaten it. Therefore, if I applied my old theme to my present situation: the action of getting to New Mexico successfully followed by this challenge, I would have languished in the sea of my old beliefs. A positive attitude served as the life ring that enabled me to climb up out of the beliefs and circumstances that enveloped me up to my neck and float above them to gain a better perspective of how I could transform them. I registered with a temporary employment agency even though my mind tried to tell me that since I needed full-time work, temporary work was still not a solution. My positive attitude helped me grasp that however many days I was able to work was better than sitting at home available for full-time work that had not yet materialized.

My initial assignment brought me back to one of the first jobs I ever had, at a bank. My boss turned out to be an integral part of the community having grown up in Albuquerque. After working with her for one month, she made calls to various other business associates; within two weeks of finishing that assignment I had the full-time job I needed. When I adopted a positive attitude, I was able to throw away the notion that I would not find a solution thus opening myself up to be part of actively creating one.

How does possibility thinking differ? Possibility is infinite! When you are a possibility thinker, you have no limitations! In the realm of possibility, all things are possible; you accept that any outcome or desire can be fulfilled in an infinite number of ways. When you engage in the practice of possibility thinking, no ratio, prediction, rule or previous experience will hinder you from believing in the potential of your success. How exciting is it to know that there is no specific method or limited number of ways to achieve what you want? You can follow the rules in any given profession as you pursue it without your activities being restricted to those rules, knowing that your success is not determined or limited by them. Hence, it does not mean that your goal will manifest exactly as you have visualized or that you may even follow the course you expected or considered. Remember that being open to all possibilities may mean receiving an opportunity or direction that is very different from what you envisioned.

For example, imagine travel is one of my goals and I have selected a career that will afford me the financial ability to travel; while in pursuit of that career, another opening that includes the type of travel I desire is offered to me. In both scenarios, I am gifted with travel. Possibility thinking enables me to recognize this exciting prospect for what it is, rather than limiting myself to what I decided my opportunity is supposed to look like. Our mental files comprise what we have seen, been told or have already experienced. We base the majority of our beliefs of what is possible from this extremely limited information. We cannot possibly dream all the ways in which we can create what we want. By becoming a possibility thinker, you have the opportunity to focus clearly on your goals while freeing yourself up to flow with the currents that sometimes unapparent, divinely carry you to the destinations you desire along your journey. Since positive thinking is highly effective, imagine the exciting transformations that await you by applying a positive attitude within the realm of possibility!

What if every action you take, seminar you attend and person you meet, you approach with your life goals defined along with complete openness to the possibility of what the purpose or gift is without any scripting, predicting or assuming? In the realm of possibility, it not only becomes easier to navigate through challenges, it becomes wondrous to transform your life, no matter how great a transformation is needed or desired. One summer I took a business trip to Houston with several of my colleagues.

Once the job was finished, we all drove an hour to the airport bidding each other adieu since we were each flying to different locations. As I strolled through the airport, a nice young man who worked as security greeted me with a big smile and asked if I needed any assistance. Something about his question and his brightness resonated for just a moment before I smiled back and replied that I was all set. A few minutes later as I watched people in the security line ahead of me, I started to zip open my backpack to obtain my license. Suddenly I noticed the small pocket was unzipped and whatever had been inside, including my license had fallen out. Immediately thoughts of all my colleagues being gone, the hotel being an hour south, the rental car being returned already and of course my desire to get home, rushed through my mind like a broken dam.

When I took a deep breath to clear my mind, I chose to believe it was possible for me to get home and I expected a positive outcome. I began to think about anything unusual that caught my attention. After a moment, I remembered the brightness and interesting feeling I had when the young man had asked if I needed any help, so I found him. I explained my dilemma, showed him a letter addressed to me that was in my personal journal and he walked me through security to get me on my flight. That morning I neither assigned the young man a purpose nor ruled one out. That enabled me to recall the indefinable feeling I had in our interaction and consider the possibility that he indeed had a purpose, which was to help me get home.

Everything is relative, therefore it is the approach you adopt in life that affects the quality of your life and the ability to transform your life at any time. When you bring your positive attitude into the realm of possibility, you are able to receive incredible life enhancing information, inner guidance, perseverance and the agility to walk along the serendipitous series of thin threads, which will wondrously weave the remarkably magical pattern of your life. Are you too full to take in the beauty of life that awaits you? Find out what letting go is all about next month.