The Power of Positive Thinking – it was the motto on my recent trip to Maui. You see, even when you travel to paradise, things can go incredibly wrong.

Whether it was delayed flights, missing luggage, a thought-to-be-lost wallet, or exploring the unknown, the power of positive thinking never failed us.

Positive thinking can be hoping for the best or saying a quick prayer to let God get you through. Whatever your form of positive thinking, I encourage you to hold on to it. After this trip, staying positive and pushing down the worry seemed to yield amazing results.

After being told that we may not make it to Maui on time, our next best option was that we would most likely be getting there separately. But after holding on to good thoughts that it would all work out, we ended up in Maui, at the same time, only an hour later that we initially intended.  The power of positive thinking. 

It’s not to say that when things go wrong you can easily melt the frustration. Trust me, missing luggage, a lost wallet – are small things that can drive you insane. But whatever came our way on the trip, we all took a collective deep breath and told ourselves it would all work out. When I thought I lost my wallet, I sent a few prayers St. Anthony’s way, too. It did help to be in the most beautiful place on earth when these worrisome events were taking place.

This trip reaffirmed something I’ve been working on quite a bit in my life – to let go of the worrying. While I’ve been working on this I’ve learned two important lessons about life.  The first, life changes in the blink of an eye and secondly, things happen beyond our control.

These two realities can be enough to cripple us with worry and fear. I know they’ve managed to do it to me in the past. But I feel I have grown immensely in not worrying about things I can’t control, and even things I can. This trip was a test of that growth and reaffirmed that if you are willing to put good thoughts into the universe, good will return to you. Worrying accomplishes nothing except stealing your time and enjoyment. Granted, there are no guarantees that life will be kind just for staying positive, but I believe that if you air on the side of positivity, you see it no matter what goes awry.

Since coming back from Hawaii, I’ve tried to incorporate positivity into everything I do. I find that generally, I’m a pretty positive person, even though it isn’t always easy. Trust me, it is very easy to fall into your own despair and bathe in it. I haven’t been able to hold onto the positive lately, but as I look back on this trip, I realize how easy it was to shed the worry and embrace the positivity. More importantly, I saw how powerful and meaningful it was to hold onto that positivity. I believe that life has its way of working things out and connecting the dots that are meant to be, even if they are the dots we weren’t planning on being connected.

I think back to the things in life that didn’t go as planned. The jobs I didn’t get, the experiences I missed out on, the time I wasted. Sure, all of these instances have their share of regret and disappointment, but I choose to remain positive. In looking back I see how so many things have worked out for me. It may not be always what I’ve wanted, but I think it has been what I needed.

When we frame our attitudes and beliefs in an abundance of optimism, I truly believe it helps us conquer the times when life throws us completely off course. So hold on to your good thoughts, they will help you conquer anything and everything.

“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.” – Helen Keller