The most important thing is to stay positive.

The words of Saku Koivu — “The most important thing is to stay positive.” — shine with the simplicity of truth earned in trial. They are not the idle utterance of one who has walked an easy path, but the hard-won wisdom of a man who battled illness, despair, and the long nights of uncertainty. To remain positive is not to deny suffering, but to face it with courage, to kindle a flame within the soul when the world threatens to engulf it in shadow.

Koivu, a warrior of the ice, was struck by cancer in the midst of his career, a blow that might have ended his journey. Yet in those days of struggle, when fear whispered of endings, he held fast to the power of hope. His return to the game was not only a victory for himself but an inspiration to countless others who saw that even when the body falters, the spirit can endure. In his words we hear the echo of that triumph: positivity as the shield that guards the heart.

The ancients, too, honored this truth. Consider Epictetus, born a slave, beaten and crippled, yet teaching that man’s strength lies not in what befalls him but in how he responds. His body was chained, but his mind remained free, and his teachings still resound across centuries. Like Koivu, he declared that the most important power is not mastery of circumstance, but mastery of the self — the choice to stay positive even in adversity.

To remain positive is not weakness, nor is it blind cheer. It is the courage to believe in tomorrow, the discipline to endure today, and the wisdom to see light even when night is at its deepest. It transforms the battlefield of the mind, turning despair into resilience, and it inspires others, for hope is as contagious as fear. One man’s steadfast spirit can lift the hearts of multitudes.

Let the generations remember: the storms of life are certain, but the flame of hope is a choice. When disease strikes, when war rages, when loss and grief press heavily upon the soul, the greatest victory is not always conquest, but endurance. Koivu’s words, born of suffering yet clothed in strength, remind us that though fate may test us, our response remains our own. And in that response — to stay positive — lies the seed of survival, and the promise of triumph.