Positive

A farmer was asked to forecast tomorrow's weather. He answered, "We'll have the weather that I like". "How do you know that you will like it?" he was asked again. His answer was, "Because I like any kind of weather". Wow! This is being positive, isn't it? If you, too, are ready to accept willingly any situation that arises without your intervention or any outcome that you get from your own action, you can live a more serene and fulfilling existence, because - by refusing to accept a less-than-pleasant reality - you keep on 'fighting the windmills' (like Don Quixote). 

Grace (lack of)

One characteristic of modern times is vulgarity, the opposite of grace. "Grace", in fact, is defined as 'simple elegance or refinement'. "Vulgar" is defined as 'lacking sophistication or good taste; unrefined', and also 'making explicit and offensive reference to sex or bodily functions; coarse and rude'. We can certainly say that many of the things we see and hear nowadays can be called vulgar. You hear coarse words currently used in movies, songs, simple conversations among friends. You hear comedians utter crass jokes which seem highly appreciated by their audiences. You are shown crude scenes in films and tasteless clothes worn by celebrities and, consequently, by 'normal' people. The "selfie culture" has created  a new, graceless race of human beings. And you must learn to live with it.

Be Resilient

Examine your usual reaction or attitude when something unpleasant happens. Some people, when faced by a challenge, feel defeated and give up any possible action, losing their battle without having fought it. If this is your case, remember that, when you are resilient, you are able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions. Resilience is, in fact, another important characteristic that is common to human beings as well as animals and objects. Endeavor to face your problems with courage and bounce back like a rubber ball which, no matter how you squeeze or squash it,  will always go back to its original shape. Or like a seed that survives, sprouts and grows into a flower in the middle of dry land.

Prayer

If we think about prayer, if we try to analyze why people pray, we realize that the need to pray is one of the strongest necessities inherent to our nature. All human beings - either they admit it or not - feel that establishing a connection with "something" beyond themselves is necessary for their spiritual and emotional survival. While plunging themselves into action provides them with material satisfaction, praying supplies the spiritual strength necessary to face the daily challenges. When you pray you feel that you are connected to a higher power, whatever this might be. You can call it in many different ways, you can conceive it any way you want, but the starting point is always the same: the need to feel that you are not alone in your struggles, that you can ask for spiritual help and believe that it will be provided.

Combativeness

When we talk about being patient, keeping calm, staying serene, we don't mean that you should be a silent, all-accepting human being. At times you need to be combative, you need to speak up for yourself, you need to defend a weaker person who might not be able to defend themselves. Being combative means to always be ready to face a challenge, to meet a difficult task or confrontation with a brave heart and firm words or actions. You must try not to be afraid of aggression but respond to it with a strong attitude and determination. Aggressors are usually wimps who need to display a fierce attitude in order to prove that they are what they are not. Your courageous response makes them drop the mask.

Listen

Like almost everybody else, you, too, like to talk about yourself, your problems, your achievements, your hopes and worries. If you have a friend who is a good listener, you are lucky. But whether you do or don't, "you" try and be an empathetic listener. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another, so there is no better way to show your friends that you love them than listen to their experiences and manifest your sympathy. Being able to truly 'understand' others is one of the greatest characteristics of the human nature - although quite a few seem not to possess it.

In The Present

It is a common belief that we should live in the present because it is the only time that we can live in. But how many people do actually do it? What about you? Verify how much time you spend remembering past experiences, comparing the situations you are facing now with what happened long time ago, complaining about injustices you had to bear, regretting the chances you missed, feeling guilty about bad actions you committed. Examine also the amount of time you spend worrying about what might happen tomorrow or next year, fretting about possible failures, fearing potential loss, dreading additional responsibilities..... While entertaining such kind of thoughts, you totally miss living the only occurrence you can experience right now, the occurrence called "Life".

Clarity of Purpose

If you don't know where you want to go, you won't reach any suitable destination. As absurd as this might sound, it is a rather common situation. When you say that you want to improve your life, your relationships, your mood or even just your finances, you express a very vague desire. You have too general a goal that it won't be easy to reach. A better life, more money, happier relationships, greater professional success are imprecise terms that won't take you to the finish line. When you are more specific, you are also able to devise a plan. What you need is clarity of purpose. When your heart knows where you want to go, your mind will work out the best way for you to get there.

Grateful Spirit

Gratitude is a feeling that should be as natural as breathing. But...is it? You wish for something, you ask for it, you pray for it, you hope to get it with all your heart, you say you would give anything to make your dream come true. But when you actually succeed in owning the object of your desire, you forget to say 'Thank you'. You forget your hopes and prayers and you just accept your achievement as if it were due to you. But it wasn't! Anything you get throughout your existence, in spite of your effort and dedication, is something to be grateful for. Why? Because nothing is to be taken for granted. No positive outcome is for sure. Why? Because this is Life.

Strength

Everybody knows the meaning of "strong". We usually think of such word as mainly 'having great physical power'. But it also means: 

* having moral or intellectual power, 

* not easily disturbed, 

* not easily subdued, 

* not mild or weak, 

* effective or efficient, 

* having great resources (such as talent).

What about you? Which of these characteristics do you believe you have? Being honest in such analysis can help you to know yourself a little better.

Sense of Humor

Do you take life and yourself too seriously? Answer sincerely. You may believe you don't, but you may actually do. How can you find out? Examine the way you usually react to not-so-pleasant situations. You make a mistake, you give a clearly wrong judgment, you have a wardrobe malfunction, you say something silly. What do you do? Maybe you try to hide or minimize the result of your action or the meaning of your words.What do you say? You possibly endeavor to cover up your blunder. How do you feel? You may blush, feel ashamed, humiliated and want to just disappear. 

In all such cases or similar ones, you don't have a sense of humor because - if you had - you would simply acknowledge your error or gaffe and ... "laugh"!

Clarity of Purpose

When you complain that you can't achieve your goal - and try to find who or what is responsible for your failure - ask yourself this question, "What do I actually want?". It is not an idle question. The fact is that quite often people don't have clarity of purpose. They say they want something but their desire is rather blurry. If you don't know "exactly" what your aim is, it is difficult to obtain a satisfactory outcome. When you say you want a better-paid job, for example, you must first decide "what" kind of job it is. Accordingly, you can make a specific plan to get it because it soon becomes clear what path to follow (like going back to school, moving somewhere else, attending a specialized course etc.). You must know the destination you want to reach in order to get there successfully.

Patience

Patience is a very simple virtue that isn't usually considered as a high-ranking one. On the contrary, it should be re-evaluated because today it seems almost forgotten. Patience is officially defined as the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. Honestly, how many people do you know who do this? Looking around, observing the contemporary society, it seems that most individuals aren't willing to accept or even tolerate delay, trouble and suffering. They all want everything "now", they are unwilling to face the normal challenges of life and try to always find a shortcut, the easy way out. Finally, how many people do you know that don't get angry or upset in front of difficult situations? What about you?

Kindness

Being kind means being friendly. Are you always ready to smile, be welcoming, speak pleasantly, make the other person feel at ease?

Being kind also means being generous. Are you usually available to provide another with your time and attention, spiritual and emotional support or material help - whenever needed?

Finally, being kind means being considerate. Are you always careful not to hurt anyone or cause inconvenience to them?

If your usual way of behaving is friendly, generous and considerate, you can safely say that you are "kind". Unfortunately, quite a few people aren't.

Forgiving

When someone offends or upsets you, your first reaction is to condemn, resent them, wish to retaliate. It's a totally natural feeling because such is the human nature: always ready to "react" - usually in a negative way. After the first reaction, though, a second step should be taken: a careful analysis of the situation and, consequently, a new, more mature assessment of what happened. If you are mature enough, you will eventually realize that your whole negative reaction is useless. Besides, it is also harmful... to "you"! Instead of being resentful and angry, realize that whatever happened is never so serious as to destroy your peace of mind. Forgive and forget. Life can be really good if you learn how to minimize your excessive pride and self-righteousness.