What are you thinking right now? If you had to choose whether the thoughts that fill your head most of the time are positive or negative, what would the answer be?

Thoughts are very powerful. They affect your general attitude. The attitude you carry reflects on your appearance, too - unless, of course, you are a great actor. It doesn't end there. Your attitude can also affect people around you and it also shows in your ads and emails when looking for a new partner.

Positive thoughts are invigorating. When you're positive, the people around you are energized by your vitality. Conversely, negative thoughts have a sapping effect on other people. Aside from making you look gloomy and sad, your negativity can turn a festive gathering into dullsville.

A positive attitude attracts people, while a negative attitude repels them. People tend to shy away from those who carry a negative attitude. If you're looking for someone new in your life, remember this when you're thinking about the type of person you want - nobody wants gloomy gus or gail.

It's all about how you look at the world. If you focus on the bad things that could happen or the sadness and cruelty that exists in the world, that's what your thoughts will be about. However, if you choose to focus on the positive things, you are more likely carry a positive attitude. Someone very wise once told me how to change my attitude in 16 seconds. I didn't believe it but she proved me right.

When everything is going wrong for you and you're grumpy and a real pain in the ass, try this. Put a smile on your face even if you have to fake it and then close your eyes and think of a funny thing that happened in your life that made you roar with laughter. Hold that thought for 16 seconds. Count them 1-2-3-4-.....16. Are you smiling? It works and I was sure it wouldn't.

Studies have shown that a positive attitude promotes better health, less stress and upbeat people tend to have far more friends. A positive attitude begins with a healthy self-image. If you love the way you are and are satisfied, confident, and self-assured, you also make others are around feel the same way. If you've had trouble being positive it's no wonder. Did you know that for every 14 things a parent says to his or her child, only one of them is positive? What does this say about the internal programming we all have inside us?

If you want a healthier outlook in life, you need to think happy thoughts, and you have to hear positive things as well. So, what can you do? Well, for starters, you could see a funny movie, you could play with children, spend some time telling jokes with friends or recite positive affirmations. All these activities fill you with positive stimuli, which in turn promotes positive attitude.

Although it is impossible to keep ourselves totally from the negative things around us and in the world, it's possible to carry a positive attitude by focusing on the good things, the positive things in life.

Sometimes when our friends feel down, the thing people mostly do is try to give them advice about how to be more positive. Sometimes, all they need is somebody cheerful to sit by them, and listen to them. You probably won't have to say a word.

Adopting a healthy, positive attitude will almost guarantee that you'll find someone new to share your life with very quickly. Positive thinking can retard aging, can make you healthier, can help you develop a better stress coping mechanism, and has a very positive effect on all the people you meet every day.