This personal development article is written by James D John

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Recent studies have shown that China is the most optimistic country in the world today, with 86 per cent of the population feeling optimistic for the future.

The UK is way down this list of optimism at a lowly 14 per cent, the USA however is rapidly climbing up this list since the Obama election.

Even those that lived though World War Two suffered from far less negativity than people living in today's fast paced climate. Even crazier statistics show that only 4 per cent of the people born in the great depression of the 1920's actually suffered from depression.

If we take negative thoughts such as "I could never do that because I am a failure" and replace them with positive thought energy vowing to give it our best shot and looking upon the task as a great experience, we will be challenging our thought patterns.

Whenever a negative thought comes into your mind; imagine a set of traffic lights showing the red light glowing brightly; then introduce a second series of lights with the green light glowing and allow a positive counteractive thought to pass through.

Practice this technique as often as possible until it becomes second nature.

It's great to be optimistic; however, a certain degree of realism always needs to be injected into any serious situation, where the risks are very high and final decisions need to be thought through even with a hint of pessimism.

Worrying about the current climate will not help; now is the time to look for the positives, identify them and look for ways in which they can be turned to our advantage, so taking the appropriate actions.

Pandora was one of the first optimists, she was given a mysterious golden box by a God who was envious of her natural beauty. She was told under no circumstances was she ever to open that box. But Pandora's curiosity eventually got the better of her and she inevitably opened up the box, unleashing the afflictions of disease, old age and anxiety. The gods only allowed her to close the lid just in time for her to capture hope.

The trick is not for us to survive but thrive. In this current climate we must learn how to channel positive thoughts even into our hopes. Instead of thinking in negative terms "I hope that it does not rain tomorrow" think positive thoughts of hope: "I hope that the sun will shine tomorrow". If we can all begin to think like winners this long and bumpy ride will become nothing more than a short trip with a little turbulence.

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