None of us are immune to negativity, tragedy, living through things we never imagined we'd have to live through. If you feel like you’re buried in dirt, remember these things.

Remember you’re in a position to plant positive thoughts, seeds for tomorrow. Not false positivity, but a healthy hope and meaning where others find nothing but pain.

20 Positive Thoughts for Hard Times, and the Brighter Ones Coming

1. Happiness isn't a thing or a place, but a quality of thought... the way you think matters. (which is why my books Morning Affirmations and Sleep Affirmations are so helpful)

2. “Everything changes when you start to emit your own frequency rather than absorbing the frequencies around you, when you start imprinting your intent on the universe rather than receiving an imprint from existence.” - Barbara Marciniak

3. What you see depends not only on what you’re looking at, but on what you’re looking *for* and where you’re looking *from*.

Start telling the universe what you want instead of what you don’t want.

4. “If it’s challenging you, testing you, and pushing you… then it’s helping you become more of who you’re meant to be.” – Mandy Hale

5. Uncertainty isn't for keeping you from starting but to let you know that you're going somewhere important. And sometimes that hurts.

6. You’re not always going to end up where you want to go, but trust that you'll always end up where you need to be. This trust begets peace... the kind of peace that nothing can take from you.

7. You don’t need to have all the answers. You don’t need to know it all. You can still sing your song, not because you have all the answers or know everything, but because you have a song to sing.

8. It’s okay if all you can do is a little. Don’t be overwhelmed by big dreams or distant goals. Start something, anything, any way you can. With what you have, with where you are. That's all you're ever meant to do.

9. Maybe... there are no little things. That means the small victories are worth celebrating and the small steps, even, mean something.

“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” – Vincent Van Gogh

10. A big part of your life is a result of the little choices you make every day. Tweaking one thing you do today can change every day coming. There's magic in today. The possibility for something new.

11. It’s okay to feel the intensity of your feelings, the painful ones too. Choose to feel life. Embrace your very humanity. If a negative emotion is coming up, let it come up. See it. Welcome it. Respect it. Listen to it. Understand it. Thank it. Let it go.

12.  Thanking the frustrating situation or the difficult person (even if silently in your head) is a kind of miracle, a kind of grace... for yourself.

13. “Gratitude doesn’t change the scenery. It merely washes clean the glass you look through so you can clearly see the colors.” – Richelle E. Goodrich

14. Some see a weed, and some see a wish. Look for the wish. Stay for the miracle.

“Where there is great love, there are always miracles.” – Willa Cather

15. You’re never too early or too late, too young or too old, too anything or too nothing to start something new, to take a risk and surprise yourself, to let go of what’s not helping you anymore, to love people, to inspire people, to love yourself, to inspire yourself, to stop waiting for happiness and to finally choose to let yourself be happier.

16. Remember how far you’ve come, not just how far you have to go. You may not be exactly where you want to be, but you're not where you used to be.

17. There's something inside you that's greater than any obstacle.

18. You’re capable of turning your frustrations into fuel. Your mess into meaning. Your mistakes into lessons and your trauma into help for others. You're that powerful.

19. Doing something difficult or different opens you up to new growth. Sometimes, the more pain you feel, the more important it is.

20. If you think you’re at the end of something, it always means you’re at the beginning of something else.

“Defeat may serve as well as victory to shake the soul and let the glory out.” – Edwin Markham

. . .

Tell me:

Which of these thoughts did you need to read today?

Tell me in the comments. I read every single one, and I'd love to know!

With love, 

Jen

P.S. Never forget how far you’ve come, how much potential you have. Go visit my shop to find the (im)perfect poetry print that celebrates you in your fullness, in your mess and magic and everything in between.