Inspiring Short Stories On Having A Positive Attitude: 4 Beneficial Takeaways

We all love a good story right? These inspiring short stories on positive attitude below, can be super valuable and useful when it comes to building character and attitude. 

All success stories come from stories of great failure. The main difference is that every time they failed, they all bounced back. This is referred to failing forward, rather than backward. 

You learn and move forward. So consider the next time you fail a learning experience and keep moving forward. 

Did you know that Henry Ford forgot to put the reverse gear in the first car he made?

He still succeeded massively in spite of this mistake. But to the outside world, he may have appeared to have gotten lucky in his success. 

A short story on positive and negative thinking…

“Don’t Act Like An Elephant” –Fran Briggs

In India, elephants are used for manual labor. When an elephant is small and weighs approximately 200 pounds, it is securely tied with a heavy-duty rope. 

In between ‘jobs’ the elephant tries to break through its limitations. The calf whines, tugs, and even tries to chew through the rope-but it is unable to break free.

Finally, the elephant gives up its will and accepts his circumstances. The elephant believes there is absolutely no chance to free himself and overcome his limitation. 

In doing so, he misses out on his defining moment.

A defining moment is the exact moment one adopts or accepts a new belief that drastically transforms their life. 

They accept this new belief as a new truth, regardless if it is true or not. 

Because the brain accepts repetition of thought and deduction as ‘the truth,’ the rope reigns sovereign not only in the calf’s immediate environment, but in his mind as well.

With this belief deeply embedded in the elephant’s mind, his handler came up with an ingenious idea to permanently disempower him. 

He realized all that was needed was to tie the four-ton animal up with extremely small ropes and he would remain tied. You see in the elephant’s mind, any size rope would keep him securely confined.

Don’t act like an elephant. Size up and break through the confining ropes in your mind. When you’re faced with change, change your perspective. 

When you’re overwhelmed with something new; change your view. Use affirmations, to eradicate limitations and nothing will be impossible for you!

This short story about a man name Jerry is one of those positive thinking success stories that you can read over and over again 

“Attitude is everything” – Francie Baltazar-Schwartz

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Jerry was the type of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. 

When asked how he was, his response would be, “If I were any better, I’d be twins!”

“I don’t get it!” I told him one day. “You can’t be a positive person all the time. How do you do it?”

Jerry replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, ‘Jerry, you have two choices today: you can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.’ 

I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. 

I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining, or I can point out the positive side of life. 

I choose the positive side of life.”

Several years later, I heard that three armed robbers held Jerry up at gunpoint in his restaurant. While trying to open the safe, his nervous hand slipped off the combination. 

The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found and rushed to the local trauma center. 

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.

I saw him about six months later, and asked him how he was. He replied, “If I were any better, I’d be twins! Wanta see my scars?”

“Weren’t you scared?” I asked.

Jerry said, “The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. 

But when they wheeled me into the emergency room, and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, ‘He’s a dead man.’”

“What did you do?” I asked.

“Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me,” he said. “She asked if I was allergic to anything, and I said, ‘Yes…bullets.’ 

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As everyone laughed, I told them, ‘I’m choosing to live. Operate on me as if I’m alive, not dead.’”

Thanks to the skill of his doctors, Jerry lived, but also because of his amazing attitude. He taught me that we have the choice every day to live fully.

How do you develop a positive attitude towards life?

From the time you wake up in the morning to the time you go to bed, your attitude determines the outcome of your day and all the days that follow.

We live in a world where stress is part of our everyday life. From work, school, finances and family obligations tend to make life stressful.

If we’re always stressed, our attitudes become affected. Maintaining a positive attitude in times like this can not only make you mentally stronger, but also allow you to bounce back from any setbacks that you may have.

Also, having the ability to find various sources of inspiration and motivation can help tremendously. 

Here are 4 tips from these inspiring short stories on having a positive attitude that you can apply in your daily life:

Stop worrying so much about what other people think about you.  

The things people often say or think of you is a reflection of their own thoughts, not yours. It’s a projection of their reality not yours which can hold you back from fully living your life. 

Express gratitude daily.  

There are so many things that people take for granted in life, like the ability to wake up, good health, freedom, and family members that are healthy. 

If you pray about it or say it to yourself, ensure to express gratitude. Some people think that what they have achieved in life is not enough.

Let go of grudges and forgive. 

Holding grudges for months or years can weigh heavy on you and make you angry whenever you see that person. 

Take time and contact the person that wronged you. Let them know that you have forgiven them. Free yourself.

Eliminate the negativity. 

In order to change your overall outlook on life you have to start catching yourself thinking about things in a negative way. 

That includes work, outings, people, and yourself. 

If someone recommends you all go to a nice brunch at a specific spot, for example, don’t automatically think of all of the reasons why you shouldn’t go. 

Instead think about how fun it would be to hang out with some friends or how much you enjoy a good mimosa.

Enjoy the present. It’s all we got. 

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