What happened when you got out of bed – were you happy and grateful for another day or were you complaining and moaning? Did you get into an argument with your partner, were you late getting started or was everything just on cue?

I think you might be getting the idea now and I bet you think that I am going to tell you that being a grump is not compatible with positive thinking. You would be correct about that, but you have still failed to get the big picture.

What I want to know is what you have done for someone else today. Did you make them feel good about themselves, a small compliment, praise for a job well done or did you make them feel small and bullied because you were in a bad mood.

You see, we all leave an emotional footprint with everything we do and say and it can have a massive ripple effect, hurting those who have been in direct contact together with their friends and families who have to pick up the emotional fall out.

Positive thinking and positivity are not about “what’s in it for me,” but a way of life that gives you the ability to brighten other people’s lives for the better. A smile, a kind word, letting go of anger and resentment help spread happiness to all within your immediate circle and beyond – and do you know what – the Universe then responds by helping you to attract those material possessions you really desire.

No one likes a grump but you see it and the negativity it attracts in just about everything we do in life. Go out on the road and watch drivers snarl at each other for the slightest thing – road rage has a lot to answer for in terms of starting and ending the working day.

I wonder how many people take out that road rage on colleagues when they finally arrive at work or on their families when they get home in the evening. That rage and anger creates an atmosphere where it is impossible for positivity to make any kind of breakthrough.

You see it in shops and high streets where impatience has almost reached epidemic proportions. How can positivity and positive thinking ever manage to find a place in your life if all you can say to yourself is get out of my way, can’t you go faster?

These are the kind of people who tell me that positive thinking has never worked for them and have decided to give up on all the potential benefits it offers in exchange for anger, stress, impatience and all the other everyday joys of a 21^st century lifestyle.

They fail to see that until they can get their emotions under control and start living less negative lives then positive thinking and the Law of Attraction will never be work for them and that in turn leads to further negativity and the inevitable moan that “nothing good ever happens for me.”

If you are agreeing with any of this then the bottom line is that you do not deserve to enjoy the benefits of positive thinking on the basis that you are contributing little to enhance the lives of your fellow human beings.

You need to be nice – and you need to be nice with those who offer you little material benefit in return except for the good feelings and positive energy they radiate back to you. A smile results in a smile back, a compliment lifts the person who receives it and blesses those that gave it.

Instead of being ready to criticise look instead for the positive. Stop complaining and try to be more understanding that things sometimes go wrong. The people you meet on a daily basis are not the enemy and they will respond back to you according to the way they are treated.

Until you can lead you life in this way then the real benefits of positive thinking and the Law of Attraction will always allude you. You will also be a much nicer and more positive person who others will want to be with.

Opportunities will then magically appear in your life and before you know it the Universe will be on your side – ready to work with you and do your bidding – and it all starts with a smile.