Being positively positive!

 " Unless you have a positive attitude you cannot succeed", this comment at a recent entrepreneurship conference got me thinking. Was that really a positive comment, especially on positivity?

And then the realization dawned, that most of us really don't put too much thought into what we say, compared with what we mean. For we pick choice words that we feel will get people to see what we mean. It works most of the time because people also are used to getting what we mean, till we stumble on some people who we reach without real time contact. Via blogs, status updates, videos…. and then the message seems different. very different.

Yesterday I was at a wonderful family looking at a children's sketchbook. One of the pages had two identical pictures and a question, "Can you spot the 5 differences between the two pictures?"

And the 3 year sweetheart in the family had scribbled on the page, "Yes". And it struck me, that was the question wasn't it? While we as adults focus on the meaning, the children focus on the question. And most of the time meaning comes from context, and sans realtime most context is switched and the message is different. 

Now thats some thinking, and to go back to our title, lets get positive, positively!