Quote Of The Day By Willie Nelson: 'Once You Replace Negative Thoughts With Positive Ones ...'

With a Martin guitar named Trigger — his instrument of choice since 1969 — his warm and tender croon, and his laid-back style, Willie Nelson has become a part of the fabric of American music. After making his name in the '60s writing hits for others like Patsy Cline, Billy Walker, and Claude Gray, he helped to kick off the "outlaw" brand of country, free of the constraints of the commercial Nashville Sound. 

But with hits like "On the Road Again" and "Always on My Mind," 11 Country Music Awards, 12 Grammys, and membership in the Country Music Hall of Fame, the establishment came to him. And on top of a performing career that, as of the time of this writing, is still going, Nelson is an activist. Since 1985, he, Neil Young, and John Mellencamp have organized Farm Aid, a festival fundraiser for small family farmers. 

Born April 29, 1933, in Abbott, Texas, Nelson grew up in a cotton-picking family and was raised by his grandparents. Music was a big part of family life. When he was 6, his grandfather gave him his first guitar; by the time he was 10, he was playing in local bands. After a stint in the Air Force, Nelson moved to Nashville in 1960, where he found footing as a staff songwriter. However, before Nelson became a country star, his singing style was too unorthodox for the country mainstream. In the early '70s, he moved back to Texas, grew his hair and beard out, and became the icon we recognize today. 

But his road wasn't always smooth. Despite the divorces, bankruptcy, and devastating personal losses that marked Nelson's tragic life story, he's not only survived, but thrived. And that's why he's today's quote of the day.

"Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results."

In "The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart," co-written with Turk Pipkin and published in 2006, Willie Nelson linked lessons from his life with Taoist philosophy. "By hook or by crook, I seem to have stumbled onto something all of us search for in this great mystery of life," he wrote in the foreword. "Some would call it happiness, but I like to think that what I found is me."

Changing his perspective and the pattern of his thoughts changed everything for Nelson. "[J]ust as I'd visualized myself as hard-bit and brokenhearted, then seen that come to pass," he explained, "I could visualize myself in ways that I truly wanted to be and make that come to pass." Positive thinking steered him through the hard times and allowed him to evolve and flower, setting him on the path toward contentment; he found the Tao.

It's easy to get trapped in negativity, but according to Willie Nelson, you have to break free. If you don't believe that things will work out, they probably won't. Only by adopting positive thought patterns — and kicking out the doubts, jealousies, and toxicity — can you can find the happiness or success you're looking for. "Because of positive thinking," he writes in "The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart," "there is very little that I've wanted to do that I haven't been able to do."

Before Nelson broke through as an outlaw country icon, he was chewed up and spat out by Nashville. There — in addition to repeatedly trying and failing to succeed as a singer — Nelson drank heavily and burned through two marriages. Then, in 1970, his home outside of the city burned down; he had just enough time to run in and rescue his guitar. 

After moving to Texas, Nelson picked up a copy of "The Power of Positive Thinking," cut down on drinking, and started working out. Gone was the depression and hard living that darkened his days in Nashville. He grew into himself and achieved the life he'd always sought: one that put family, music, and positivity in the center.

Nelson is also making a point about autonomy: the power that you have over your life. If thinking can shape what happens, and it's something you can control, then you have more agency than you might think. "If you've made your own hell," Nelson instructs, "then only you have the power to escape it." And when you spread positivity, then it'll come to you.

• "Maybe I don't write as good of cheating songs as I used to, but that's a small price to pay for what I've gained. It took me a long time to realize that I didn't have to make life so danged hard." 
• "People out there get to clap their hands and sing for a couple hours, and then they go home feeling better. I get the same enjoyment that they do — it's an equal exchange of energy." 
• "Let's face it, we're being divided intentionally. That's part of the playbook — divide and conquer. It's been around a long time. When somebody's saying hello to somebody without knowing their political ideology, and they're just enjoying music together, that's church. That's healing." 
• "You have to judge other people against yourself. They say you're not supposed to do that, but that's the only way I can judge other people. I kind of compare them to myself. And I know there's a lot of hustlers out there, in every walk of life. Whether they're preachers or insurance salesmen, it's about the same thing." 
• "You've got these guys over here saying you ought to do this and those guys over there saying you ought to do that. Next thing, you don't know what to do." 
• "And when I get out there, I'm always glad ... The more I work, the more I feel I'm capable of working and the more I like it." 
• "Your lungs are your biggest muscle, and the more you use them, the healthier you can get."