Things can and probably will get hard and you don’t need me to tell you that. And when they do, you have two choices: make them better, or worse for yourself. But you didn’t need me to tell you that either.

It’s not entirely black and white, being able to instantly make everything better through having the appropriate mindset. It’s a lot more complicated and you get better at it as you grow. You also have to be willing to make things better.

Let me paint a lil scenario for you: you’re on the way to work, it’s a big day, and of course it’s raining outside. You’re already in a hurry as it is, but then you miss the bus by the last second. You step in a huge puddle soaking your feet in freezing water on the way to the next bus stop. Great.

Scenario A: You throw your coffee on the floor for it to backfire onto your dress. Furious, you storm into the office with a toxic mood and ruin what should have been an awesome day. Your boss isn’t impressed which just makes things even better.

Scenario B: Realizing the potentials of Scenario A, you try to make the best of it and not let it ruin your day. You’re always early anyway, and the wet feet makes no immediate difference to your appearance. Soon enough you’ll be inside, warm and dry and you’ll laugh at this by tomorrow morning. You get to work in a mild fluster nonetheless, but you end up forgetting about the morning’s melodrama and focus on instead having a great day at work.

Bit of a generic situation that we’ve all seen on some kind of tampon advert, but it’s relatable.

In a broader sense, you can’t expect things to change if you’re negative. You need the attitude to be prepared to embrace something new and the effort required that comes with it. Living by the motto ‘it could be worse’ is gold. Used a million times, it still is valuable to remember, because say although you did get pooed on by a seagull, at least it wasn’t on your face. And I speak from experience, it’s not great.

If it’s fear that’s your issue, translate that as holding you back from something that could be great! Fear is always a healthy thing to have; it motivates you and once you have conquered it how liberated do you feel?! But using fear as a barrier from what could be so great is not the way to approach it. Embrace it with open arms, then kick it out of the way. You’ll see you’re so much bolder and confident than before and you can achieve what you had never expected. It’s easier said than done, but being positive about any situation is the ultimate way to start. Being grateful for what you have, who you are, how far you’ve come so far is something to always be optimistic about.

I know, it’s exhausting being ordered around and pushed to be positive when you’re not feeling it, which is completely fair. But everyone has a starting point. Everyone has their lows on a wide range of levels, and it’s not always easy to be motivated. Always remember that even if you think it couldn’t possibly be worse, just think of 2007 Britney.