The Power of Positive Thinking

I used to roll my eyes at all those quotes about “positive thinking.”

“Good vibes only.”

“Change your thoughts, change your life.”

It all sounded nice in theory, but honestly, I figured it was just fluff. Life, in my experience, wasn’t the sort of thing you could magically fix with a cheerful attitude.

Then came the worst year of my life.

It started with my job. I’d been working at a small marketing agency for five years. I wasn’t passionate about it, but it paid my bills and gave me a sense of security. Until the morning my boss called me into her office with a tight smile and said, “I’m so sorry… we have to let you go.”

That afternoon, I packed my desk in a haze.

Losing my job was bad enough. But life decided to double down. A month later, my partner — who I’d been with for nearly three years — told me they “needed space.” That conversation ended with me standing on the curb outside our apartment, clutching a box of my things while the February wind bit into my skin.

I felt like I was walking around in a thick fog. My savings were draining faster than I could blink. Nights felt endless. My mind kept replaying everything I’d lost.

Then, one morning, I got an email about a job interview. It wasn’t perfect — a contract gig with lower pay — but it was something. I pulled myself together, printed my resume, and headed out early, determined not to screw it up.

Halfway there, on a gray stretch of highway, my car started making a horrible grinding noise. Then came the smell of burning oil. Moments later, the engine died completely, leaving me coasting to the shoulder as other cars whipped past.

I remember gripping the steering wheel so hard my knuckles hurt. My eyes welled up.

“Of course,” I thought. “Of course this would happen today.”

That’s when I saw a man in a neon-yellow vest approaching my window. He was older, maybe late fifties or sixties, with lines on his face and kind eyes.

“You alright in there?” he called.

I rolled down my window just enough to speak. “Not really.”

“Pop your hood,” he said. “Let me take a look.”

While he poked around under the hood, I sat there shaking. My chest felt tight, like I couldn’t breathe. Everything in me wanted to scream, Why is life doing this to me?

A few minutes later, the man closed the hood and wiped his hands on a rag. “Try it now,” he said.

I turned the key, and miraculously, the engine rumbled to life.

I blinked at him. “How did you…?”

“Loose battery connection. Easy fix,” he said. Then he leaned his elbows on my window and looked me square in the eye. “Listen, kid. You can’t control what happens out here. Cars break down, jobs disappear, people leave. But you can control how you look at things. You keep looking for everything that’s wrong, that’s all you’re gonna see. Try looking for what’s right, even on the bad days.”

Then he gave me a small wave and disappeared back to his truck. I never even got his name.

I made it to the interview just barely on time. I probably looked frazzled and smelled like engine grease, but somehow, they offered me the job.

That man’s words haunted me for days afterward. “Try looking for what’s right.” I’d never really done that before. My brain was a pro at worst-case scenarios. But for the first time, I wondered: what would happen if I tried to see things differently?

At first, it felt silly. I’d wake up and think, Okay, what’s one thing that’s good right now? Some mornings, all I could come up with was, I have coffee. Or, The sun is shining.

But gradually, it became a habit.

Instead of thinking, I’m a failure because I lost my job, I started telling myself, I’m figuring out what I actually want to do. Instead of spiraling over being single, I thought, I’m learning to enjoy my own company.

One day I caught myself laughing with friends over pizza, realizing I hadn’t thought about my ex in hours. Another day I finished a freelance project and felt a surge of pride that I’d kept going, even when everything felt hopeless.

Positive thinking didn’t erase my problems. My car still needed repairs. My bank account was still scarily low. But my mind felt… lighter. I was carrying the same weight, but somehow it didn’t crush me anymore.

About six months later, I found a full-time job I loved — writing, which I’d secretly wanted to do for years. I started dating again, with less desperation and more curiosity. I began to believe, deep down, that I was stronger than I’d ever given myself credit for.

Sometimes I still wonder about that man on the highway. He probably has no idea he changed my life.

So here’s what I’d tell anyone reading this who’s feeling like the world is falling apart:

Positive thinking isn’t pretending everything is perfect. It’s believing that even in the mess, there’s something worth holding onto. That today might be hard, but tomorrow might surprise you.

I don’t have it all figured out. But I know this much:

There’s power in the stories we tell ourselves. And I’m choosing, every day, to tell a story where hope wins.