As I was walking my dog one rainy morning this week, I could not help but notice that my mood was somber, even negative.  I was hardly surprised and not just because of the weather.  After all, we were in the second wave of COVID, it was cold and damp, and one of my primary places to go to in order to help me relieve stress – the gym – was closed down again as we reverted back to stage 2.  As I reflected on my somber mood, I began to realize how it had been negatively affecting my life over the past few days – from negative communication with my spouse to negative thoughts about my law practice and my coaching practice.  Not really a great place to be at my best.

After realizing how my somber mood had been negatively affecting me, a knowing smile drew across my face.  You see, in the past, this somber and negative mood was not uncommon for me.  I always expected the worst to happen – expecting something to go wrong on a file, expecting my favourite team to lose the game, expecting it to rain on my outdoor run days – you know the drill.  This negativity also translated into how I spoke – negative comments about the weather, about how terrible a person had behaved, about how terrible a person had dressed, etc., etc.  At the time, I did not realize just how much of an energy drain being negative was.

Fortunately for me, I was lucky enough to have worked with 2 people over the years whose example showed me the power that positivity can have on our resilience.  On days when I went into work feeling negative and with little energy, their positive outlook and positive moods provided me with a renewed sense of energy that helped power me through the day.    Consequently, that summer day when I could not open my car door, I knew, from their examples, that one of the things that I had to work on to improve my resilience was to become more positive.  

I am happy to say that my experience with trying to become more positive has improved my resilience.  I have noticed that more times than not, I am seeing things more positively.  My positive outlook in turn puts me in a good mood more often, which translates into my treating those around me with kindness and patience more often.  I also perform better when I feel positive – it gives me more energy, enables me to see things more clearly and allows me to keep my eye on my long-term goals. 

So, what does this all have to do with B+ blood you ask?  B+ is a rare blood type.  In fact, only 7.6% of Canadians have B+ blood.  If we equate the percentage of people who have B+ blood with the percentage of people who can actually maintain a positive outlook throughout the entire day, and the rest of the blood types with people who struggle to one degree or another with it, I am guessing that the ratios would be pretty close.  All this is to say that, since we are not inclined to be positive (or B+) in the first place, it is important to be intentional about improving our positivity.  

Don’t believe in the power of positivity?  Set the intention of being positive for a day and then act on it.  Stop verbalizing any negative observations about the weather, people, or anything for that matter.  See how these small steps can start to improve your mood and energy over time.  You will become a believer.Struggling with developing your resilience?  I’ve been there.  Feel free to reach out to me at rdetoni@hotmail.com and I can help you on your path to improving your resilience