Education Quote by Joan Lunden

“A positive attitude” has become one of America’s most marketable moral positions: portable, nonpartisan, and endlessly repeatable. Joan Lunden’s line works because it treats optimism less like a personality trait and more like a skill set. The phrase “can work on” quietly reframes attitude as labor - not a lucky disposition you’re born with, but an everyday practice you can train. That’s a culturally soothing promise in an era where stress is treated like a personal inefficiency and emotional stability like a form of professionalism.

The subtext is equal parts encouragement and soft pressure. “Everyone can learn” sounds democratic, almost therapeutic, but it also implies that failing to be upbeat is, at least partly, a failure to try. It’s the classic self-help pivot: turning structural hardship into something you can manage internally. The word “employ” is telling, too. It’s not just “have” a positive attitude; it’s “use” it strategically, like a tool you deploy in meetings, medical appointments, family chaos, the daily grind of being seen as “coping.”

Context matters here because Lunden isn’t a philosopher; she’s a familiar media presence shaped by daytime TV’s problem-solving ethos. Her credibility comes from lived visibility: she’s the reassuring adult in the room, translating big, messy life into doable steps. The intent is to offer agency without demanding confession. In one sentence, she sells resilience as learnable - a comforting idea, and a very American one.