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Many of us have taken this little story for granted, but think of how often positive thinking helps us get through a challenge. I recently joined a rock climbing gym, and noticed that the words going through my mind have a huge impact on me getting up a difficult wall. I’ve started to replace my initial thought “nope” or “that’s too far to reach” with “I can do this!” and just saying those words in my head can be the factor that gets me to the top.  

Watty Piper wrote the most well known version of “The Little Engine That Could” in 1930, but the idea that optimism can lead to positive outcomes was inspired by the Transcendental movements in the early and mid-1800s. If you’re interested in the details of the movements, check out the Wikipedia article on Transcendentalism .

The idea that positivity was a “new philosophy” at any point kind of blows my mind. And then again, I’m pretty sure there are still a ton of people who don’t believe in its power. I have to wonder if a high percentage of those people never happened to read “The Little Engine that Could” during their formative years. 

The book is now out of copyright, and anyone is free to make their own version of a “Little Engine” book, audiobook, movie, video game, or other piece of art.  Perhaps a new wave of the Transcendental movement will happen in the coming days!

Thanks for reading!

Rebecca H. Lee

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