Fortunately, life is really great right now for so many people. New, heathy relationships, fresh ideas, exciting projects… and yet… the NUISANCES of LIFE still threaten to get in our way. You know – the crap that can suck us into a tornado of negativity when all we want is to continue on our UPWARD path!

Because of survival, we are wired for negativity – it's called “negativity bias” – and this week, it threatened to take me down. Making decisions about how to take care of ourselves through the crappy negative situations is a key to living well. As bumper stickers say, “Sh*t happens!” But the crap isn't so easy to just ignore! We get swept up in the anger, the frustration, the sadness, the regret that before we know it, we have spiraled out of control. Meanwhile, we ignore all of the positive in our life. And then, we usually end up beating ourselves up for allowing the frustrating situation to bring us down with it.

Fortunately, positive psychology can help us understand how to use rational thinking and positivity to move past the negative spiral. The fact is that we experience positive and negative AT THE SAME TIME. Though we might like to push the negative away, instead, we have to learn how to manage it. We need to keep it in check so that we can focus on the positive.

In this week's “PurposeFULL Monday” video, I talk about how to keep those negative nuisances in check so that we can focus on the positive. As usual, I use a negative situation in my own life to demonstrate how being human leads us down the negative path – and how (with higher level thinking), we can put the negative in ints place and MOVE ON to all that is good! Enjoy and please post your comments and questions here. I love hearing from you!

I hope you're having a fabulous Memorial Day! Whether you BBQ'd with friends, relaxed with family or went to a parade, I hope you enjoyed the weekend and remembered those soldiers who gave their lives to protect their country.

The best way to memorialize people is to use their lives as inspiration. As I began thinking and reading about fallen soldiers today, what struck me was the unwavering passion that so many of them had for this nation. Many believed so purely in democracy that they were willing to risk their lives for it. I could not help, then, but think about what it is that is worth the risk for me. What do I believe in so passionately, so deeply that I would give my life? For me, it is the dream that every one of us loves ourselves, finds our voice and sings our song to the world!

What is that core motivator for you? What do you believe in so passionately that you would risk for it? What are your greatest dreams? Your most heartbreaking yearnings? This week, I heard Linda Siversten, “BookMama” brilliantly advise, “Trust the ache.” For those of you with unfulfilled dreams, you know that ache too well. As an aspiring (or hiding) artist, writer, poet, freedom fighter, teacher, peace keeper, language speaker, the thought of our dream literally aches us. We may fear our deepest yearnings and hope they go away, but they don't. We have these aches for a reason. Trust me, Brooke, we are given dreams because we are meant to fulfill them in some capacity. And we aren't given any that we can't realize. Years, ago, I ached when I thought of self-help authors and speakers. The ache only went away when I began pursuing the dream.

This week’s PurposeFULL Monday asks us to honor fallen soldiers by considering what it is that is worth the risk for you. What is your dream? Can you take one step toward it? I am right by your side taking it with you. I believe in you AND your dreams!