Positive Energy Can Change Your Life

I know from first hand experiences that positive energy can change your life. There are so many benefits of bringing positive energy in every day life. Here’s a small piece of my story to help you understand how positive energy can change your life.

My Early College Years

I played American football in at Union College and my team was my life. In the beginning years, I was tight with everyone on the team and tended to shy away from people who weren’t on the team. Sure, after the “big win,” I would go out and celebrate and open up to others but alcohol induced interactions aren’t necessarily genuine or meaningful. I was the guy wearing the my football sweatsuit around campus with my hoodie up and with no interest in meeting others.

Opening Up to Positive Energy

In my last 2.5 years of college and grad school, something changed. I started to open up and meet new people. I started having authentic, intentional, meaningful relationships with people. I started reading books about philosophy, life, and business.

I started practicing yoga because there was something about it that made me feel connected with my true self and others around me. I showed genuine interest in other’s lives and I reached outside of my circle of American football friends. Most of all, I started helping others. Whether it was something as small as holding a door for someone and smiling (do this 20x in one day and let us know how good it feels) or something as major as starting a community service group, I did it all.

Meeting New People Increases Positive Energy

I met as many people as I could from all different backgrounds. I reached out to everyone I came across. I mean it, everyone. I was on a first name basis with all of the employees at the college cafeteria, the school’s maintenance crew, the local gas station attendants, exchange students, professors, and more. For those 2.5 years, learning about their backgrounds, their families, their struggles, and their experiences was one of the most gratifying experiences of my life.

I learned a ton about myself. I had some of the best experiences (which I will encapsulate in future posts) and formed life+long relationships. I met my amasing girlfriend and some of my best friends (see below picture in Thailand with Jim) in the world all as a result of bringing positive energy into the world. When we bring a positive outlook to relationships and facilitate real, meaningful discussions and form a genuine interest for other people, magic happens.

Brian, me, and our new friend Jim Siri from Siri Guesthose in Chiang Mai, Thailand

My friend, the Ashtangi as an Example of Positive Energy

I have a friend who brings a tremendous amount of positive energy into his life and the life of others. My friend, an avid Asthanga yoga practitioner, was low on money. By chance, through some of the positive energy relationships he has formed over the past few years, he was introduced to a local Ashtanga yoga instructor.

My friend Quinn the Ashtangi posing at Sunrise, Photograph by Danielle Lussier of Lucid Practice

I don’t think the instructor had any knowledge of my friend’s financial situation (or did he intuitively?) but for whatever reason asked him to come practice at his studio for free. The instructor said that the studio welcomes people like him — people who are eager to learn, people who are genuinely kind, people who uplift others, and people who want to connect with others in a meaningful way.

The instructor’s invitation was contingent on one commitment — one Ashtanga principle: commitment. The instructor welcomed my friend into the studio but said that my friend must be there for practice at 5:30am 6 days/week. Like Sharath Jois often says with a smile, “Ashtanga is for everyone. Except for the lazy.” As you can guess, my friend was there every morning because that’s the type of person he is.

If it Changed my Life, Positive Energy Can Change Your Life too

My “body of work” on campus and in the community during those 2.5 years represent my proudest life accomplishments. Watching our community service group projects blossom and having people thank me for changing their lives by sharing the positive energy philosophy — these are things that I will always cherish especially because it seemed so implausible 3 years prior to their occurence.

I share these stories in the hopes that people will consider embracing this way of life. Put good out into the world and good will happen unto you. The greatest part is that no matter what we’ve done in life up to this point, we can change whenever we want. Including right now.

If just one person reads this and decides to bring positive energy to their life: mission accomplished. I’m so grateful for what the philosophy of positive energy has brought into my life — if you haven’t found this way of living, I hope and pray that you will. Positive energy can change your life!