Here's an email I received that I think many of us can relate to:

I truly love life and am so grateful for where I am today and at the same time I feel like I am constantly treading water. After all the positive changes I've contributed to my life I still feel like life is so hard and I can't catch a break and all I do is work and I am so physically tired cannot afford health care and make to much too qualify for assistance, I am mentally and emotionally drained and tired all the time yet continue to think positive and always smile ~~ what to do... Carol, Austin, Tx.

Boy, do I ever know what it feels like to tread water. It sucks, big time.

Carol, I am going to give you some extremely radical advice - stop smiling all the time! Go hit a pillow and cry for a bit.

Don't get me wrong, positive thinking can be very powerful, and we are often in a much more empowered space when we utilize positive thinking, but it's not the be all and end all.