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Maria Pascucci is a national student leadership speaker, author and the CEO of Campus Calm™. If you’re tired of stressing over school, you can join the club … literally! Unite with students around the world at www.campuscalm.com and receive your free Student Leader Success & Happiness Kit. Learn more about Maria on her About the Author page.

"The finest gift you can give anyone is encouragement." ~Sidney Madwed

Ask successful people how they’ve reached their dreams and they’ll likely tell you about their network of positive people who have helped them out along the way. If you want to create your vision of a happy, successful life, surrounding yourself with people who glow from the inside out is the way to do it. People who love their lives and take pride in living each day to the fullest.

While you have some downtime this holiday season, make a conscious effort to surround yourself with cheerleaders (positive people that is!). Don’t know where to start? First, learn about the characteristics that distinguish positive people:

Honesty. There are those people who will tell you what you want to hear. Then there are truly positive people who are brave enough to be honest with you, while still being supportive and having a positive attitude.

Impractically practical. Positive people will listen to your wacky improbable dream to, say, direct and distribute your own documentary films. They’ll respond with, “Why not?” They have a can-do attitude about even the seemingly most difficult things. But a truly helpful positive person will encourage you to look at the practical steps you must take in order to realize the most grandiose dream. Even if they don’t know what those steps are, they will encourage you to surround yourself with people who do.

Generous. Positive people are entitled to a bad day once in a while. Their car stalls, their laptop breaks, the dog eats the napkin with their new crush’s phone number. Positive people are even allowed to occasionally curse their decision to get out of bed in the morning. But if you have some exciting news to share, positive people can put their complaints aside long enough to share in your happiness for a while. They do this because they care about you. But they also realize that your positive energy may actually rub off on them, bringing sunshine to their otherwise gray day.

Internally driven. Positive people recognize that positivity is a personal choice. They realize that when they choose to see the gems life has to offer instead of the grime, they will be happier, healthier and more satisfied for it. Positive people choose to be resilient and then learn how to craft the tools that will allow them to live the life they desire.

While you’re visiting with family and friends over the holidays, listen and observe. Does anyone in your life embody the characteristics of a positive person? If so, walk up to her and say, “Pardon me. I believe you have a positive aura. I can feel it!” Just kidding! Do make a conscious choice to get to know her/him better though. Sit down next to her at a party. Ask her questions about her life, and how she’s come to view the world with optimism. That’s how you begin to build a support network. One day at a time, one person at a time. Can you think of a better way to spend your holidays?

Wishing you and your loved ones peace, joy and love this December!

Filed under: Maria Pascucci • Campus Calm