A positive attitude to life

There is not only natural beauty here in Kosovo. There are also all the shadows and ghosts of the past; the ruined homes and memorials scattered throughout the country. War is truly an ugly, traumatic and hugely wasteful thing. I felt the sadness and I heard the bitterness. Even so, I am encouraged by the younger people who can see that the country has a brighter future if people believe in it and work hard to make it happen. It is easy to get trapped in the past, or to be drowned in a sea of pessimism. Negative thinking always reminds me of the Dementors from Harry Potter, because it can literally suck the life right out of you.

I had a similar experience in South Africa. After democracy came in 1994, in the wake of Mandela’s release, there was euphoria, much like that which followed Kosovo’s independence. But change is difficult and takes time. Someone told me once that no one likes a change except for a baby with a wet diaper, and even then the baby cries throughout the process. Anyway, after the euphoria came a wave of pessimism. Crime went up, HIV/AIDS was taking its toll and there was plenty to complain about. It got so bad that I felt compelled to write a book, called South Africa: Reasons to Believe, just to remind people that there was a lot to feel hopeful about in the country.

This is a really important lesson I’ve learned in life. We should not stick our heads in the sand and pretend that everything is hunky-dory. But a positive attitude to life is a better way, not only because it makes us feel better, but because it makes us more effective. As it happens, I have just finished reading The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne, which I highly recommend. In the book, she makes the case for cultivating positive thoughts. She says there is a law of attraction in the universe, which allows us to create the future we want – and literally to attract the things we want – by using the power of our thinking. I don’t fully agree with all of her logic, but I am convinced that maintaining a positive attitude is essential for success and happiness in life.