Think Positively

Take notes and answer questions here.

Review

In “Learn from Mistakes,” you learned how making mistakes helps you grow. Share an experience when you learned from a mistake. How did this help you grow?

Learn

Think about a time when you felt a lot of stress in your life or with school. What did you do? How did you feel? Sometimes when we are faced with a stressful situation, we can think negative thoughts about ourselves and others. Negative thoughts can affect our physical and mental health. They can cause us to make poor decisions and lose confidence in ourselves. The image below shows some of the ways negative thoughts can affect us.

Negative Thoughts and How They Can Affect Us

Just as negative thoughts can affect us in negative ways, positive thoughts can affect us in positive ways. Thinking positive thoughts can help us move forward with faith and make good choices. The image below shows some of the ways positive thoughts can affect us:

ourselves. The image below shows some of the ways negative thoughts can affect us.

Positive Thoughts and How They Can Affect Us

Changing our thoughts can be difficult and takes time. Be patient with yourself. Learn to listen to what the Spirit tells you about yourself and your abilities. Remember that the Savior is there to help you. He knows who you are and will bless you as you try to think positive thoughts.

Activity

Talk about the challenging situations below. In each situation, the student first thinks negative thoughts. How could positive thoughts help each student feel and do better?

Situation A

Challenge	Negative Thoughts
Challenge Samuel comes home tired and worried about an upcoming exam. His mother reminds him that he forgot to sweep the house.	Negative Thoughts Samuel thinks, “I cannot do anything right! I forgot to sweep, and I am going to fail my exam. I am not smart, and I forget things.”

What is a better way of thinking? What positive thoughts could Samuel think instead?

Situation B

Challenge	Negative Thoughts
Challenge Natasha has spent time with friends all day, and she does not start her homework until late at night. She is very tired.	Negative Thoughts Natasha tells herself, “I cannot do this homework! It is too hard!” She goes to bed without studying.

What is a better way of thinking? What positive thoughts could Natasha think instead?

Situation C

Challenge	Negative Thoughts
Challenge Maria worries that the girls at school do not like her. She is afraid to talk to them because she is worried they will judge her.	Negative Thoughts Maria tells herself, “They are not good enough to be my friends anyway. I do not want them to be my friends.”

What is a better way of thinking? What positive thoughts could Maria think instead?

Talk with Your Family

Talk with your family about how positive thoughts help them. Discuss with them how you can help each other have positive thoughts. Write in your journal some statements that will help you think positively. Read these statements often.