Positive Thinking - Yes, I Can
Written by Julie Taylor
I wasn't sure where to put this article? Is what I'm talking about a 'mindset' - which is cognitive? Or is it deeper and lives in your heart or your soul? I believe it starts off as a mindset. Someone repeatedly telling you... Convincing you. And then, while you're not looking, it finds its way down to your heart and soul. I'd love to hear what you think? EMAIL ME!
My story is about 'pick-your'own'... Do you like to pick your own peaches? In the Okanagan here there are lots of orchards and summer is full of beautiful days picking peaches and apricots and berries. Peaches are my favourite because they're a little bigger and you need less to fill your pot!
A nice couple own the local peach orchard where you can pick the peaches yourself. My grandchildren love to go there - so do I! Last Sunday we pulled up to the gate at the end of the long driveway to the orchard. There was a sign up that said "Sorry, closed until next year."
I was puzzled because it looked to me like the trees still had quite a few peaches on them still. We were all disappointed and as I tend to be the sort of person who can't take 'no' for an answer (very easily!) I drove down the driveway anyway. The gates were still open. and I think the sign was very new. I went gingerly through the gates to see who I could find.
As I neared the orchard I could see someone standing on a ladder up in a peach tree with a bucket in hand. I went up to him and asked "Your sign says closed. Any way we could still try"?
"Well...", he said "I've just finished picking the last of them. There's not a single peach left." he said.
"Mind if we try?" I asked, being the "Never give up" kind of person (or PITA person as my ex used to say!) that I am.
"Knock yourself out" he mumbled as he climbed down the ladder. "In fact, I'm so sure you won't find any, I won't charge you for efforts."
My grandchildren and I checked out every tree in that orchard and filled 4 grocery bags full of the most beautiful fresh peaches. On this day anything left was ripe to perfection.
Out of the entire summer, these were the best tasting peaches.
As we left the orchard, we held our bags open and showed the guy what we'd picked. I think he would have been shocked if we just had a few peaches, but we had four bags full. He shook his head... My grandkids were delighted at his surprise!
I offered to weigh all the peaches and pay for what we'd found but he insisted we'd earned them and chuckled as we left, still shaking his head.
I'm always amazed at what others tell me "doesn't exist." People love to say things like "you can't", "You couldn't", "There's nothing", "It
doesn't work", "I have nothing" etc. 
My daddy always said that 'there's no such word as can't" - and as a teenager I would raise my eyebrows and shake my head in disgust! Luckily his attitude rubbed off on me anyway because I think that's what pulled me through while I was in hospital. That's why I never believed the doctors when they told me I would never walk again. That's why I have my fourth son and he is how I am starting to put 'all this' into words and creating my website. He's a natural - and a very kind and patient - young entrepreneur and seems to be able to see 'the peaches' so clearly.
The kind of "negative mindset" the peach farmers in the story above have is why so many people end up stuck and unable to move forward. In business and in times of personal struggle too. Nothing is more important that to believe that 'you can'. This is a photo of my own son winning one of his bike races. As a young boy he struggled with winning. As he grew older he began to work consistently and believe in himself - the results were wonderful. He won first place in our Province two years in a row for men's road cycling.
Often in business you have to re-program the minds of clients so that they can start to see things from a positive perspective. This is also known as having a can-do-spirit or having a firewithin...
ReBuilding after a serious trauma is not quite so simple. You may well be dealing with grief, loss, shock, disbelief, anger, sadness, anxiety or just plain 'frozen emotions'. It's often way more complicated.
I can't help wondering though if a positive mindset - and usually seeing the 'good' in every situation - is one of the most valuable things you can have in life.
These 3 books - Yes I Can: The Story of Sammy Davis, Jr., The Tibetan Art of Positive Thinking: Skillful Thought for Successful Living by Christopher Hansard and Revitalize Your Life by Jack LaLanne (who is 94 now and is an amazing inspiration) are great food for thought!
