A client read my 2009 Prophecy Letter recently and was perplexed by this statement that I’d made in the letter.

"I have really mastered the use of negative experiences to my advantage. I can see more clearly then ever that negativity is awesome! So much good happens when something bad happens. So many new opportunities come out of the chaos and destruction."

He asks, "How can I benefit from my negative experiences. Since my mind focuses on these – maybe I can use them to my advantage?"

In the end negativity is very very positive. It is where growth occurs. If you didn’t have negative experiences in life you would not have new desires, new hopes and dreams. Forward movement is often in response to the awareness of backward movement.

Over the years I’ve seen that breakdown is the beginning of break through. I have taught my clients to celebrate when bad things happen. I’ve seen tens of thousands of examples when something bad happens, if looked at correctly, something even more positive happens on the other side.

Why Is Negative Negative Anyway?

Something is only negative when you resist it. What you resist will persist. What you accept will transform. There is a hidden positive in every negative. Napoleon Hill said it this way,

"There is the seed of equivalent benefit in every adversity"

The key word here is "seed". You must harvest the equivalent benefit. You can’t expect every negative to turn out positive. If you choose to suffer, get pissed off, become the victim, scream, "Why me!!!" or go into a state of hopelessness, then you will not harvest the seed of equivalent benefit.

In the end, negative experiences are only negative because you resist them. If you embrace them as a part of life and find the good, find the lesson, find the new perspective, find the shift in behavior, then life starts to really get fun. Everyone has aspects of life that they don’t like. I’ve learned to see beyond my reaction and embrace the negative as a valuable part of my life experience. I encourage you to do the same.