Welcome to Positive Agenda with Sandy Kovach. My goal is to encourage and motivate you to think positive and help others do the same. This is a blog I wrote a while back on another site...I thought it would be a good start for this new series.

I read an article on the CBS News website not long ago called “Teach Your Children To Be Optimists”. It reminded me of the first time I uttered the words, “you have to think positive” to my son. It was when he was first learning to ride a “big boy bike”—you know, no training wheels. His father had put in lots of time with him, but he was still having trouble. The problem was clearly in his mind because he had the skill and the knowledge. I told him two things—think positive and pray. Pray not that God will make you ride, but that he will give you the confidence to do it. After a few minutes of positive thinking and perhaps a little divine intervention, he did it. Now, positive thinking is something we talk about often. In fact, if I’m being negative, I am called on it by my son. Sometimes it’s when I actually seem to be enjoying wallowing in a little self pity and negative thinking (do you ever do that?) and he’s there to remind me to snap out of it.

But what about this optimism and positive thinking as it relates to our kids. It can have a profound effect according to the article. Researcher Karen Relvich of the University of Pennsylvania is quoted as saying optimistic children have fewer symptoms of depression, less anxiety and are better at problem solving. She also says it’s a “skill” that can be learned.

I guess, though, the best way to teach optimism is probably by example. We need to show our kids that we can be optimistic even if things don’t seem to be going our way. I think we can be honest when we are disappointed about something, but remind them that things will turn out okay. Maybe we can tell them that we’ve learned from any mistakes we may have made, etc. We can be honest and be real. I think our kids will get more from that than if we pretend that we are perfect. Remember, by teaching our kids to be positive we are helping them gain skills that will last a lifetime. And as for us grown folks-- by working on it ourselves, we also benefit greatly.

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