The mood in the country is rather mixed right now after the elections, but if all of us could focus on the positive instead of the negative, then the whole country would be happy again. I came across this wonderful speech delivered to a graduating class of 2003, by Butch Jimenez. I believe students wished they had brought a pencil and paper to jot down notes during the speech; some even wished they had a tape recorder.

“Now,” said Mr. Jiminez as he got up to speak, “tell me what you observe about the equations: 3+4=7, 9+2=11, 8+4=13 and 6+6=12?”

More than 90 percent of the participants immediately said, 8+4 is NOT 13, it’s 12. That’s true and they are correct. But they could have also observed that the three other equations were right. That 3+4 is 7, that 9+2 is 11, and that 6+6 is 12.”

“What’s my point? Many people immediately focus on the negative instead of the positive. Most of us focus on what’s wrong with other people more than what’s right about them. Examine those four equations. Three were right and only one was wrong. But what is our first observation? We only see the wrong equation.”

“If 10 people you didn’t know were to walk through that door, most of you would describe those people by what’s negative about them. He’s fat. He’s balding. Oh, the short one. Oh, the skinny girl etc.”

“Get the point? It’s always the negative we focus on and not the positive. You’ll definitely experience this in the corporate world. You do a hundred good things and one mistake-guess what? Chances are, your attention will be called on that one mistake.”

“So what’s better than focusing on the negative?”

“Believe me, it’s focusing on the positive. And if this world could learn to focus on the positive more than the negative, it would be a much nicer place to live in.”

Ah, what wonderful advice.

I wish my countrymen could read this speech by Mr. Jiminez; it would have done all of us a world of good, and lifted our feelings this morning from despondency and depression to one of hope and positivity.

Yes, there are millions of good things happening in this world, happening in our country, taking place all around us right now; if we would only focus on those happenings and not on the negative, life would be one big happy smile, wouldn’t it?

So, what’s the positive that can make all of us happy after these electoral results? Well that the voters have given themselves a party that believes in progress, and also voted in a sizable opposition to see that they will only stick to activities that will bring us progress, which in itself is a great victory for all of us. What a positive outcome...!

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