My Story of Inspiration

I'm neither Gandhi nor Thomas Edison. I am not able to lead my country's people to freedom, nor am I capable of inventing something so grand, like the "light bulb," that will be able to change the way people live. I know that deep down I would like to be like them, but as a 14-year-old boy I know my limits.

However, knowing my limits doesn't mean that I can't try or dream about changing the world someday. The fact is that my role models didn't become great leaders or pioneers in a single day. It took time for them and they started out from a very simple step, which is "positive thinking."

After reading autobiographies, I was able to see one think that all of them had in common. It was positive thinking. It seems very easy at first and it seems like anyone can do it, which is true. However, the real challenge is being able to continue without losing hope. I think this is why they were able to change the world while others have failed.

Since I learned science and love to do experiments, I believed that once I have a hypothesis I should be able to test it out. My hypothesis was to continuously stay positive for one month without any exceptions, and compare if this month will have a better outcome than the regular months of my school year.

I have to be honest; it was harder than I had thought it would be. There were many times I wanted to give up and just be mad or angry. If you wanted to be seen as positive, you have to really feel positive inside to be able to show it outside.

The first real challenge came when we had to do our first history group project. The teacher divided us into groups and we had to do a group presentation. I don't know if the teacher knew about my experiment, but I was grouped with the laziest people in our class. I know that I am not supposed to judge other people. However, I was really wishing that I would be with another "smart" group. If it was the "old me," I would have thought "I'm so doomed and I'm so going to fail this project." Instead of thinking negativity, I began forcing myself to think in a positive way. When I asked for opinions, I really tried to hear their ideas and I tried to work with them. I suggested to work after school with them, and I put my effort to making them think that we can do it. I think that my group knew that we were going to get alow grade from the start, because they really didn't care about what I was doing. However, as time passed and I consistently made positive comments, I was surprised to see my fellow group members working together. I'm proud to say that we ended up getting an A+ for the school project. After a month of positive thinking, I was able to change the way my friends thought about school and other friends.

Of course, people can argue that this was a "one time good luck." Therefore, to prove that positive thinking is what can really change me and the world around, I need to look into more books and see if it is true for others.

From my search, I was shocked that famous people actually failed a lot of times before they became successful. And the key force that was able to make them succeed was positive thinking. Every single one of them didn't give up hope and always thought that there was a brighter side to every outcome. One of my personal favorite quotes was from Thomas Edison. When a reporter asked how he felt when he failed so many times to create the light bulb, Edison replied by saying that he didn't fail but it only took him that many steps to create the light bulb.

Overall, I think that through my experiment and research, my inspiration that will be able to change the world is positive thinking. By being able to think positively, I am able to act positively and change others to become positive. If this continues, I think that it will be like a little stone thrown into a pond and creating a ripple over the entire pond, changing it for the better.