Inspiring Short Stories on Positive Attitude

Last Updated on May 21, 2024

In today’s society, inspiring short stories on positive attitude matter. That’s because we reached that point where many — if not most — people are about instant gratification.

So in this article, we’ll dig into that subject.

Let’s discuss what inspiring and positive stories in English about life can do. We’ll also check out five inspiring short stories about positive thinking.

What inspiring short stories on positive attitude can do for you

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According to studies, a positive attitude towards life is good for your health. It boosts your immune system, raises positive emotions, and reduces anxiety.

Inspiring and positive thinking story in English allows you to appreciate good. They help you realize and understand how some people’s situations in life improve because of their attitude. They also provide you with the opportunity to maximize those benefits for yourself.

Plus, they help you realize these things:

  • Never give up (quickly)Challenges may come. But with positivity, you’ll have the strength to continue chasing your goals.
  • There’s a silver lining in a dark cloud – With a positive attitude comes an open mind. It also comes with the power to see the good in unpleasant situations.
  • Responses are important – A problem is only a problem if you insist on seeing it that same way.

5 inspiring stories on positive attitude

Doubt that a positive attitude is good for you?

Then read this positive thinking story below to get some reassurance.

Here are five inspiring and positive attitude stories for employees, yourself, friends, and students with morals:

1. Rocks, pebbles, sand, and more

Rocks, pebbles, sand, and more

This story tells of a professor of philosophy who once stood in front of his class with an empty glass jar.

With his students watching, he filled the jar with rocks. Then he asked his students if the jar was full.

The response was in unison:

“Yes!”

Upon hearing this, the professor then told them they were wrong. He proved it by adding small pebbles to the jar’s contents. He then raised the same question before.

“Is the jar full?”

Again, his students answered yes. To him, they confirmed the jar containing rocks and pebbles was full.

To this, the professor responded similarly to what he said earlier. And to prove his students wrong again, he added sand into the jar. Once he filled up the jar with sand, he asked his students “the” question:

Is the jar full?”

And again, they answered it was complete. But the professor once again informed them they were wrong.

This time, he didn’t take out anything. Instead, he informed them of the point he was making.

He told them the jar was a metaphor for life. And the rocks, pebbles, and sand were also a metaphor for things that fill a person’s life.

The rocks symbolize essential things in a person’s life. The rocks could be a person’s loved ones and anything they hold dear. He then added these things should be a person’s priority.

Meanwhile, he said, the pebbles and sand also represent things that fill your life. And while they mean a lot to you, they carry little weight. Compared to your rocks, they’re replaceable.

Then the professor left with these words of wisdom:

“You can pour water into the jar. Any liquid will do. And this represents things that could fill up your life even more. But like the pebbles and sand, they’re replaceable.”

2. A better gift

A better gift

This inspirational short story is about a young man who asked his father for a car as a gift for his high school graduation.

The young man felt confident his father would buy a car for him because his old man’s salary could afford such a purchase.

Imagine his disappointment when graduation day came. Instead of a car, his father gave him a watch.

“I didn’t ask for this!” he yelled at his father.

“It’s a better gift, my son. You don’t need a car. What you need is time and learning to manage it well,” his father said.

He felt terrible for having high hopes. And from then on, he had a raging heart and wouldn’t want to be in the same room as his father.

Years passed, and the young man saw no reason to speak to his father again.

Without his father providing for him, he learned to work. And worked hard until he realized his father was right.

It was true. He didn’t need a car back then.

If his father had given him a car when he asked for it, he wouldn’t have learned the value of hard work. Add to that the lesson on managing time.

After this realization, he tried locating and calling his father. He wanted to make amends, admit his fault, and express gratitude for a valuable lesson.

The unfortunate part? He was too late. He got word his father passed away weeks ago.

He learned from the experience that his father had his best interest at heart. Though his father didn’t show it, he had his back and wanted him to succeed in the long haul.

Related: Real-Life Inspiring Stories that Touched Hearts

3. Innocent sacrifice

Innocent sacrifice

A good positive mindset story about a volunteer doctor at a children’s hospital that shared this short story of a young boy.

It began when she asked the young boy if he would participate in a blood transfusion. The doctor told him he needed to give his blood to expedite his sister’s recovery.

At first, the young boy hesitated. But not long after, he reconsidered. After taking a deep breath, he agreed to the medical procedure.

The young boy also added he would do anything else for her sister. Upon hearing this, the doctor smiled and began preparing him for the transfusion.

The medical professional also explained the situation to the kid. And the boy felt glad he had the antibodies needed to save a family member.

During the transfusion, he looked at his sister and smiled for a moment. After, he turned pale, faced the doctor, and asked:

“Will I die now?”

The doctor smiled at him and told him he would only give his sister a portion of his blood. What the young one thought was he was about to give every ounce.

And right then, the doctor felt the boy’s love for his sister — so much so he would sacrifice his life for her.

The doctor was in awe at what the boy showed. It reminded him that some people would do anything — including things they don’t understand — for the people they love.

4. Seeing roadblocks as opportunities

Seeing roadblocks as opportunities

There lived a wealthy king with a reputation for getting on people’s nerves.

One day, he placed a boulder in the middle of the road. He knew it was going to get in people’s way. But he ordered his servants to place it there on purpose anyway.

The first group of people who bumped into it reacted with utter annoyance.

“Doesn’t he have anything better to do with his life than annoy people?” these people would say.

Because they thought it was an act that only called for attention, they ignored the boulder in the middle of the road. They walked around it — annoyed and never looked back.

Few more groups were annoyed by the king’s constant ploy to get attention. And the rest showed apathy and continued walking their path.

Years passed without changes to people’s reactions to the sight of a boulder in the middle of the road.

It wasn’t until a peasant carrying loads of vegetables stopped to notice this boulder. Rather than walk past it, he tried to move it to the side of the road. His agenda was to place it at a location that wouldn’t get in people’s way.

Because it was a heavy boulder, moving it took him a while. It also took a lot of his energy to sit down and rest before continuing his journey.

But as he was resting, his eye noticed something shiny. It was under the boulder’s original location.

He was curious. And so he went near it.

He then discovered it was a purse made of gold. When he opened it, he found a note from the king:

Congratulations!

Go to my kingdom and present this note.

A pot of gold, your reward, is waiting for you.

The king wanted to impart the lesson that not all roadblocks are useless. If a person invests time and effort into overcoming them, it won’t be long before they notice these roadblocks can also be a blessing in disguise.

5. Your thoughts, your outcome

Your thoughts, your outcome

Two seeds are the center of this inspiring story.

The first seed said she wanted to get off the ground to grow. Whatever happens along the way, she’s up for it.

And so she grew. Her life was colorful. She may encounter problems once in a while. But her heart was happy about her choice to get off the ground.

Then there’s the other seed. Unlike the first seed’s enthusiastic approach to the possibilities ahead, she sat there worrying. She was worried about any missed opportunities that may come when she leaves the ground. She’s also worried about being exposed to too much sun.

And because her head was full of worries, she didn’t go anywhere. She played it safe and waited.

One day, a hen came near the ground where the second seed waited. It then stumbled upon the seed and devoured it.

The lesson? There’s nothing wrong with playing it safe. But playing it safe can sometimes be dangerous.

Plus, if you want a promising outcome, playing it safe isn’t the way to go. Instead, you need to take risks and get out there.

6. A Challenge-Filled Life

One night, a rich man had a dream where God appeared and asked him to bring all his miseries to the temple hall in bags.

Excited to finally exchange his problems with someone else, the man quickly gathered all of his troubles and headed to the hall.

When he arrived, he saw that everyone else in town had brought their bags of problems, some of which were much larger than his own.

Despite feeling hesitant, the man decided to go through with the exchange and placed his bag with the others.

To his surprise, when God told everyone to choose a new bag, everyone rushed to claim their own.

The wealthy man, who had spent his whole life praying for a way to rid himself of his problems, realized that he was happy with his miseries because he was used to them and didn’t know what difficulties lay in the other bags.

As he took his bag back home, he realized that the key to happiness might lie in accepting and overcoming his problems rather than trying to escape them.

7. Rich Mom, Poor Mom

Elderly woman reads book at home, next adult son. Home quarantine upon contact with patient. Strict rules self-isolation. Contact person to contact for help. Home food supply parent

One day, a rich woman was waiting outside a grocery store when a less well-off woman recognized her and asked how she was doing.

The wealthy woman boasted about her son’s success, including his honors degree from Stanford and his successful business, and asked about the other woman’s son.

The other woman revealed that her son hadn’t gone to college and worked for a company rather than starting his own business and that he lived with her after her husband passed away.

Despite not having the same level of material success as the wealthy woman’s son, the other woman was proud of her son for staying by her side during her illness and for his commitment to making a positive impact in other people’s lives through his work for a non-profit.

As the wealthy woman’s son arrived and rushed her to leave, the other woman remarked that at least her son knew how to be kind and help his mother.

This story suggests that true success and happiness come from inner qualities and relationships rather than external markers of success.

BONUS: Additional resources about positivity

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Final thoughts on why inspiring short stories on positive attitude matter

Inspiring short stories on positive attitude matter. And the best inspiring short stories featured above serve as reminders that positive attitudes are like superpowers.

This is because you can control your attitudes. And like a superpower, you can use it to make anything happen, like self-improvement and a propensity to live life to the fullest.