When you grab your perfume in the morning and realize it says “Hero,” does that make you feel more confident after you put it on? When someone says “Have a good day,” and you’re not sure if they mean it, do you give them the benefit of the doubt and have a good day regardless? I do, and I’d like to think it makes all the difference.
They say life is what you make it, and since almost everything depends on how we interpret it, that’s absolutely true.
Five days after he got married, a young Levi Stanford almost died in an accidental explosion. The aspiring musician lost his left hand — a devastating blow for someone used to playing both the guitar and the piano. After months of recovery and training with a Captain Hook–like arm, eventually, Levi started making music again.
“Say what you wanna say,” he sings in If You Believe It!, a music video for an original song he filmed in over 60 locations.
If you believe it and you know it’s true
Then take what you can dream for
You will achieve it
As you push on through
Stanford took what many people would have taken as the ultimate downer and turned it into fuel for more, better, and happier. Nowadays, he travels the world when he can, inspires others through his story, and, of course, still makes music.
Don’t let them bring you down, no
When time is fading so fast
Only you can know what’s good for you
Most of us will never have to bounce back from something as traumatic as Levi has experienced — and that’s all the more reason to cherish the little butterflies of positivity that fly into our lives every single day.
The next time you come across an uplifting message, hear some encouragement, or stumble upon an upbeat music video, remember: It’s up to you. You can dismiss it or embrace it. Only you can know what’s good for you — but if you see something that might be good for you if you look at it from the right angle, don’t be afraid to change your point of view.