The singer and television personality Marie Osmond has been through quite a lot in life. At 61 years of age, she’s gone through divorce, career disappointments and heartbreaking loss. Many would become bitter after all of these challenges, but not Osmond. Instead, she’s leaned on her faith to get her through the tough times in life with a positive attitude.

“You have a right to hate everyone on the planet for what they have done to you,” she told Closer Weekly. “But faith teaches you to forgive and not let the past ruin your future. You move forward and find great joy in that.”

Osmond, who is the eighth of nine children and the only girl in her Mormon-raised family, added that she learned to have a positive attitude early in life.

“My mom preached positive attitude until I was like, ‘Mom, stop!’” she said with a laugh. “Thank God she did. You have to have hope, and that’s what faith does. Having faith is having a positive attitude.”

One of the biggest challenges Osmond has faced came in 2005, when her house burned down.

“I lost everything — a lot of my mother’s things, photos, memorabilia, statues, records,” she recalled.

“I realized this home I had created was a façade to a marriage that wasn’t happy for 20 years,” she added, referring to her former marriage to Brian Blosil. “It was one of those experiences where I felt like God was saying, ‘Believe in me and you’ll see what’s really important in life.’”

Osmond went on to say that she is philosophical about these hardships.

“I believe that even with all the things I’ve been through, we are here in this existence to experience challenges,” she said. “That’s how we grow.”

These days, Osmond is loving life with her “best friend” and husband Stephen, 63.

“We’ve raised all the kids, just dropped the last two off at college,” she said.

Going into 2021, Osmond is leaning on her faith and optimism just as much as ever.