By John Guajardo/reporter

Students bothered by negative thoughts were given some advice by a South campus counselor in a recent workshop.

Candice Richardson, also a licensed marriage counselor, shared a personal story and presented called “The Power of Positive Thinking.”

“My very special aunt who recently passed away gave me some very thoughtful advice,” she said. “She taught me to be grateful for the things that I have because not everyone has the same advantages as I do.”

Richardson advises students to find something they are grateful for in order to find themselves in a more positive position.

“Positive thinking is something that’s nurtured by your environment,” she said. “The reason why is because the nature of the environment can change our thought process.”

In order to live a more positive life, a person needs to be more passionate about the things they do, to have purpose in their actions, she said.

“We are bodies of energy, and we create our own destiny,” she said.

Richardson said that positive thinking is forged by a creative visualization.

“Meditation creates creative visualization and creative visualization leads to a more positive lifestyle,” she said. “This sort of meditation is practiced by Buddhist monks.”

Richardson shared some statistics on a recent event where Buddhist monks were placed in a city with a high criminal rate and were tested to see if criminal rates diminished.  After a few months of testing, it was proven that these monks have indeed decreased crime by practicing their mediation and living their lives of peace and positivity, she said.

To be more positive, people need to go to sleep early and exercise more, physically and mentally, she said.

“Instead of imagining terrible thoughts, train yourself to visualize only favorable situations,” she said. “Do that, and you’ll be one step closer to more positive life.”