found this today, what an encouragement!

61 ways to build your optimism

1. Be realistic about your expectations.
2. Accept the past, manage the present and work hard towards the future.
3. Seek for a ray of light/hope in a negative situation. It’s a bit difficult considering all you are going through, but there’s always an opportunity lurking somewhere in the dark.
4. Utilize what you have for now and aspire to grow in every area of your life, remembering you can only swallow food in bits and pieces before taking another big bite.
5. Be authentic, be yourself and stop hiding behind the MASK of pretence.
6. Get infected by being in a network or company of constructive people, because optimism is positively contagious.
7. Have a dream, believe in it and do everything possible under the sun to run with it.
8. Accept you are human with imperfections.
9. Express love towards other people.
10. Be selective of what you read, hear or watch from the media. Excessive media influence could dampen your spirits.
11. Develop the habit of using positive affirmations constructively.
12. Listen to music. It has the ability to make your mind wander a bit. Come on!!! dance to the groove; sing even if it won’t get you auditioned for XFACTOR.
13. Exercise regularly. Taking care of your body mind and soul builds courage and resilience to face the pressures of the world.
14. Avoid living in self denial.
15. Try as much as you can to stay calm when overwhelmed with the issues of life.
16. Be thankful for everything you have, who you are, the people around you…..
17. Develop a sense of humour. Cultivate the habit of laughing or cracking jokes.
18. Spoil yourself and make sure you enjoy doing so. Go on vacations, get a massage, eat out……..
19. Improve yourself at the slightest opportunity you have. Your capacity to succeed in life will depend on your personal drive to take each opportunity as stepping stones to fulfilling your life long dream.
20. Be gracious enough to accept things you cannot change. There will always be things you cannot change no matter how hard you work at it.
21. Reflect and focus on the good things that have occurred in your life.
22. Create a positive attitude.
23. Don’t harbour any form of resentment particularly with issues from the past.
24. Know when to call it quits. Some things aren’t just worth the effort and time you put into it.
25. Occupy yourself with things that bring out the best in you i.e. family, children,friends, travelling, reading etc
26. Focus on creating solutions and not drowning in problems.
27. Be a positive role model to your children, friends, family etc. Be a source of inspiration to people who look up to you.
28. Be good at your job demonstrating your useful skills.
29. Have a hobby to keep you occupied. It could be a form of sport, reading, writing etc.
30. Improve your physical appearance when necessary.
31. Get some rest because it is required to put things in perspective.
32. Learn something new in order increase your knowledge.
33. Be passionate. Embrace life and everything it stands for with love and passion.
34. Show persistence in all your endeavours because it’s one of the keys to happiness.
35. Worry less because it reduces the level of your anxiety..
36. Celebrate the successes of other.
37. Be determined and motivated to excel in all you’ve set out to do.
38. Learn to try out new things.
39. Maximize your success and give attention to your failures remembering that failures are learning experiences that yield positive results if handled properly.
40. Set a goal so that you will have something to look forward to when the going gets rough.
41. Practice the habit of forgiveness.
42. Avoid clutter. Be organized not only with your things but also with your thoughts and your plans.
43. Create a positive environment in your home or office.
44. Read several motivational stories, blogs,quotes….
45. Think positively about who you are.
46. Develop a strong ambition.
47. Visualize happy thoughts. Imagine a picture in your mind what you want to achieve and how you can achieve them. Oftentimes, what you create in your thoughts give birth to what happens in reality.
48. Walk tall, with your head high up exhibiting confidence.
49. Smile as often as you can. It has a way of showing your sincerity.
50. Have a blend of optimism in the way you pick, choose and say your words.
51. Spend some time taking stock of all the influences in your life. This includes friends, family, television shows, magazines, blogs, etc. Thinks about which aspects of your life motivate you and push you to live positively for yourself. Think about those aspects that pull you down and drain you of your positive energy. Spend less time around the negative influences and more time around the positive!
52. Set aside more time for yourself where you can be alone. Sometimes it is easy to become depressed and grumpy when you give all of your energy to others. Having scheduled “you” time will guarantee that you will be able to pamper yourself and participate in your favorite hobbies.
53. Try changing your perspective about situations. Sometimes that is all it takes to turn a crummy day around. I try very hard to find something positive that will come out of the crappy things that daily life deals us. It doesn’t always happen naturally, but it gets easier when you push yourself to see the good in life.
54. Have friends and family in your life who can cheer you up and encourage you to be positive when you fall down. It’s inevitable that you will have a bad day, stress attack, or an emotional melt down in the future. It happens. The difference between you and a negative person is that you have the courage to get back up and keep going. We all need to be reminded that life really can be amazing if we take the time to see things positively.
55. Fill your space with reminders of how wonderful your life is. Write your favorite encouraging quotes on colorful post-its and paste them around your home.
56. Write letters and cards to your close friends and family with positive wishes and joyful greetings! Spreading positivity helps you feel positive in general!
57. Encourage the people in your life who take on pessimistic attitudes to be more positive. If those people are not willing to hear you out, limit your time around them. Negativity is very draining and you can only be around it for so long before it takes over.
58. Get excited about the little things that make you happy!
59. If you are feeling down and depressed, own your feelings. Don’t deny that you are grumpy. Accept that you aren’t feeling 100% and give yourself time to just be.
60. De-clutter your life! Get rid of things that you don’t love, things that you never use, and things that aren’t sentimental to you. Clutter can weigh you down and fill your life with unnecessary negative energy ! Make room for new things that you adore!
61. Channel your inner child every so often. Do things that the child within you would love! Blow bubbles, ride the merry-go-round, drink chocolate milk, play hop scotch, color, take photos of random objects, play dress-up, etc.

i'll at a number 62, which should be number 1... seek God first, focus on others second, and think about yourself third.