Can you focus on the positive in a totally negative situation?

I wish I could! I have a tendency to focus on the negative and it really aggravates me because that's not the person I want to be, even though I think it's human nature to do that.

I wish I knew how I could, I am a negative person and soak up negativity like a sponge and find it hard to deal with situations, and let all the past hurts and negative emotions cloud my judgement and my way of thinking. I have depression which makes it very hard to let go of the negativity, I see the glass half empty not half full and I tend to get really down if something negative has happened to me, I take it personally, I see it my lot in life to be negative. Its like when someone gives me a compliment it bounces of me and I forget it, if someone says something nasty or cruel to me I hold onto it and it brings me right down. I soak up negativity like a sponge. I read books and yeah its ok in theory but putting it into practice.