While I was learning tai chi at Wudang Mountain in late April, I learned of a man who lives in a shaggy cave about 800 meters above sea level. He eats kitchen scraps to survive.

I later met the person outside his cave. With matted hair and a mask, the middle-aged man grinned warmly as I gave him a small amount of money. My tai chi coach told me the man has no use for money and that he accepts it just to be polite.

A Taoist monk lives in an adjacent cave - the unadorned home to a much-adored legendary Taoist saint. The monk is possibly in his 90s but no one really knows because one is not supposed to ask a Taoist about his or her age.

My friends and I visited the elderly monk to gain some wisdom. He told us many stories, one of which was about the masked cave man.

"A young Taoist monk from downhill came to me the other day, complaining about his hard life there," recalled the old, but agile Taoist in amusement. "I told him that our masked man merrily makes do with spoiled food scraps everyday. I suggested he visit that cave to see what true hardship is like."

Whether the young monk visited the cave, the old man did not say, and we didn't ask. The message was clear enough: In the face of difficulties, some complain, some don't; some are negative, some are positive.

Which brings us to the book, "The Positive Dog: A Story About the Power of Positivity," written by Jon Gordon, a public speaker and author of many other best sellers.

A tale of two dogs

"We all have two dogs inside of us. One dog is positive, happy, optimistic and hopeful. The other dog is negative, mad, sad, pessimistic and fearful," says Gordon. "The more you feed the positive dog, the more it grows. The more you starve the negative dog, the more it shrinks and weakens."

No one is born a negative or positive, it's simply a matter of choice. In the introduction to the book, he writes: "I'm not a naturally positive person. People think I am because of the books I write, but the truth is I have to work really hard at being positive. I'm a student first and a teacher second, and the student in me tries to learn and practice everything I teach."

Why should we learn to be positive? Is being negative that big a deal?

Gordon cites the world's latest research to show there are many benefits to being positive. They include: living longer; performing better at work; and marriages are much more likely to succeed when the couple experiences a 5-to-1 ratio of positive to negative interactions. He says positive people are more resilient during times of adversity and they see the bigger picture.

Gordon also lists the costs of being negative. They include: an increased risk of suffering a heart attack and stroke, and negative employees can scare off customers.

These findings are not novel, to be sure. For instance, Richard J. Davidson, who teaches psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has said: "One of the strongest and most consistent findings in behavioral medicine now is the relationship between positive emotions and health."

What distinguishes Gordon's book from most others on positivity is that it tells a tale about two dogs, Matt and Bubba, that appeals even to small children. "The goal of this book is to take much of the research on positivity and make it simple, fun, and actionable so anybody, even a child, can benefit from feeding the positive dog," Gordon says.

Nuts and bolts

The nuts and bolts of the pooch story is as follows:

Matt was a little dog who had a tough life before being rescued by a shelter. He was mean, mad and sad. He barked at people who came to look at him. He had no one to love and no one to love him. He complained about his past. He complained about being at the shelter. He complained his life wasn't what he dreamt it would be when he was a young pup.

Bubba was a big dog at the same shelter. He loved country music, fresh cold air, movies with happy endings and helping the helpless find hope. He lost contact with his owner after a fire had burned down their house.

Bubba told Matt to laugh and smile, since smiling activates a rush of serotonin in the brain. This "natural antidepressant" elevates mood and promotes happiness. In the end, Matt became more upbeat. A family finally adopted Matt, and Bubba reunited with his owner.

At first glance, you may dismiss the book as just another fairy tale, something not so serious.

Indeed, the author says: "I know there are some who may not think this book is serious enough, complicated enough, big enough, or valuable enough because it's a book about a dog that learns to be more positive and, yes, the dog talks. But please don't underestimate the message in this book because it features pictures and talking dogs."

Fair enough.

As a journalist and an employee, I find this book to be of profound significance for two reasons:

First, it warns us of the health and social costs of losing ourselves to negativity. When I read news and commentaries today, I too often find myself swamped by complaints, most of which sweep too broadly - such as our society is so corrupt and our environment is so polluted.

There are corrupt souls and polluted rivers, but China is big enough to harbor incorrigible souls and clear waters. A healthy dose of complaint is OK, but too much of it blinds us from the big picture and from taking action. Journalists do our readers a disservice if we feed the negative dog inside of us and complain more than applaud.

Second, the book warns us not to throw negative emotions to our colleagues. Don't be a negative co-worker who makes life difficult for everyone in the office. Shrink your ego, praise others. As the author says: "When you feed others, you feed yourself." But if you feed yourself only, no one will feed you.

Which brings me back to the old Taoist monk at Wudang Mountain. He said: "Be like water. It nurtures everything from grass to soil wherever it goes, and yet it lies so low, competing for no glory." Indeed, water never complains; it contributes.