Dear Friends and Followers:
FRED’S VIEW OF POSITIVITY
I’ve learned that positivity is especially hard to muster in the worst of times. Like falling rain on a stormy day, it varies in intensity. Sometimes positivity peeks out of our troubled mind like a ray of hope when it is least expected.
I was built in 1900 and was filled with pride. Gradually over the next 120 plus years I learned that many of my immigrant tenants’ lives were filled with pain and suffering. After years of listening carefully, I discovered that being positive is not something we are born with. It is something that must be cultivated and nourished like anything that requires our careful attention.
Over the decades I had no choice but to accept whatever happened inside and outside my building. Several times I almost lost hope for a positive outcome, even for myself. I was one owner away from being demolished. I thought I would never be able to tell my stories, but it was my tenants who taught me how to fight my fear of the future. They learned to struggle to be positive in their home countries until they decided to come to America for a life of freedom. Of course, they soon discovered America’s streets were not paved with gold, but positivity kept them moving forward despite the difficulties they encountered in their new land. But they were free!
For years my pleas for help were never heard by drivers passing by on Niagara Street in the city of Buffalo, N.Y. My mental telepathy never worked until one rainy morning in 2006 when I made my usual plea: “Please tell my story before it’s too late and evidence of my existence is gone forever.”
As fate would have it, Fran, my author heard my voice and turned her head toward me. I knew she heard me and I felt positive she would come back someday. It took six more years before she pulled up in front of my building and opened the passenger window and said, “I’m here at last, FRED, and I’ll tell your story.”
I’m honored to still be here standing tall on Buffalo West Side, and I hope my story will help you to believe in the power of positivity, as I did so long ago.
Best,
FRED
VIOLET’S VIEW OF POSITIVITY
Can we cope with our problems and challenges in life without positivity? It’s a question I’ve often asked myself. Sometimes we lose when we face a crisis or a major problem because it’s beyond our power to control. Nevertheless, I say ‘yes,’ we can cope as long as we can keep positivity alive deep within our minds. Personally, I keep mine alive using hope as an aid to overcome negative thinking.
When life becomes difficult I remember the field of violets I used to lie in when I was a young girl filled with fear and uncertainty of what would become of me during that time of the Great Depression. Seeing the beautiful blue skies and fluffy white clouds above comforted me, providing me with a sense of inner peace and a feeling of positivity. Today, whenever I’m faced with a situation I can’t change, I stop what I’m doing and visualize my violets and relive the sensation of feeling positive and hopeful.
The Oxford English Dictionary describes positivity as a practice, a skill, not something we’re born with. Quote: “It’s not something you are, it’s something you do.” I agree and believe it’s a personal choice in the face of fear and anxiety. Like FRED, I couldn’t have survived without it.
Positivity helps all of us to survive, to adapt and overcome all of life’s challenges with determination and courage. It is our greatest strength in the face of adversity.
Best,
Violet