The Power of Positive Thought and Me (I?)
So a friend and I were discussing positive thought in chat and it got me thinking about my own personal philosophy on the matter. I don't necessarily believe in it... but I do.
The way I see it people expect positive thought to be fairly pat in it's definition, think positive and good stuff happens, right?
I see it more as a part of a life philosophy, or at least my life philosophy. I think of it in four parts; the things I do, the way I do those things, the things that are done to me, and the way that I handle what is done to me. I figure kharma handles most of items 1 and 3. I do good things, good things happen to me, I do bad things, bad things happen. Reasonable enough. But the way in which I do those things... whether I will do them well, quickly, and while enjoying them? That's positive thought. Positive thought seems to me to affect your mindset more than outside forces. If you think you can do it, you are more likely to succeed. But this doesn't mean that positive thought is going to get you through a test you don't know the material for, that's more a matter of luck and kharma. And kharma better owe you big time if you think it's gonna make up for your screwup. How I handle what happens to me, those things beyond my control that just seem to happen, is again on positive thought's shoulders.
So if positive thought isn't what gets me by each day, and prayer isn't either (which it isn't), then what DO I do? I actually think about events negatively. Sort of a "just my luck" mentality. Aaron tells me it's a sad way to live. I disagree. For example: Tomorrow Johnny has a job interview. He totally thinks he has it in the bag, he's been using positive thought to help make this happen for himself, he is confident that the new bosses will love him and hire him and maybe he'll get a raise in 6 months and buy a newer shinier car and take his wife on a nice vacation over the summer. If he is hired, he still has his sights set pretty high for that raise as well leaving a lot of room for disappointment. If he is not hired he momentarily loses hope that he will ever get hired and even be able to pay his bills, he wonders why he even bothers, why he always gets his hopes up, maybe even is more upset because he was SO sure he would get the job.
Meanwhile Lola is a negative thinker like myself, she has a job interview tomorrow too. She fears the worst, spends her morning fussing over every detail of her resume, her wardrobe, and how she will present herself at the interview. She is pretty sure she won't get the job, because it just seems too perfect to be true. In fact, by the time she leaves the interview she has fantasies of the bosses talking about how ridiculous she was and of being hit by a bus to boot. Just her luck. If she gets it? She will be ecstatic of course, but doing a good job to prove her worth will be the first thing on her mind. Not expectations of great things to come. If she doesn't get the job it's no big letdown since she has already mentally prepared herself by envisioning the worst thing that could happen. Not getting the job isn't so bad in comparison to not getting it, being laughed at behind her back, and then being hit by a bus.
To me, positive thought in terms of what you want to happen to you is like setting yourself up for disappointment and failure. Having a "just my luck" mentality is the opposite you are preparing yourself for disappointment and failure so if it does happen it isn't as brutal to your psyche. It also tends to leave more room for your mind to be content with what it has instead of always looking for more.
Statistically positive thought doesn't stand a chance. There just aren't that many mansions on hills and perfect jobs and such in the world. They are great because they are limited, much like diamonds. If they were available to all they wouldn't have value. So I figure it's a good idea to prepare yourself, Murphy's Law is out there, and no matter how well you plan, how hard you work, and how positive you think, sooner or later Murphy will get you. A flat tire, cancer, tornado... there are a million things that can screw up your plans and it's best to be prepared.
(Here's a question: Do people who believe in the power of positive thought buy insurance? And if so, isn't that counterproductive?)
The way I see it people expect positive thought to be fairly pat in it's definition, think positive and good stuff happens, right?
I see it more as a part of a life philosophy, or at least my life philosophy. I think of it in four parts; the things I do, the way I do those things, the things that are done to me, and the way that I handle what is done to me. I figure kharma handles most of items 1 and 3. I do good things, good things happen to me, I do bad things, bad things happen. Reasonable enough. But the way in which I do those things... whether I will do them well, quickly, and while enjoying them? That's positive thought. Positive thought seems to me to affect your mindset more than outside forces. If you think you can do it, you are more likely to succeed. But this doesn't mean that positive thought is going to get you through a test you don't know the material for, that's more a matter of luck and kharma. And kharma better owe you big time if you think it's gonna make up for your screwup. How I handle what happens to me, those things beyond my control that just seem to happen, is again on positive thought's shoulders.
So if positive thought isn't what gets me by each day, and prayer isn't either (which it isn't), then what DO I do? I actually think about events negatively. Sort of a "just my luck" mentality. Aaron tells me it's a sad way to live. I disagree. For example: Tomorrow Johnny has a job interview. He totally thinks he has it in the bag, he's been using positive thought to help make this happen for himself, he is confident that the new bosses will love him and hire him and maybe he'll get a raise in 6 months and buy a newer shinier car and take his wife on a nice vacation over the summer. If he is hired, he still has his sights set pretty high for that raise as well leaving a lot of room for disappointment. If he is not hired he momentarily loses hope that he will ever get hired and even be able to pay his bills, he wonders why he even bothers, why he always gets his hopes up, maybe even is more upset because he was SO sure he would get the job.
Meanwhile Lola is a negative thinker like myself, she has a job interview tomorrow too. She fears the worst, spends her morning fussing over every detail of her resume, her wardrobe, and how she will present herself at the interview. She is pretty sure she won't get the job, because it just seems too perfect to be true. In fact, by the time she leaves the interview she has fantasies of the bosses talking about how ridiculous she was and of being hit by a bus to boot. Just her luck. If she gets it? She will be ecstatic of course, but doing a good job to prove her worth will be the first thing on her mind. Not expectations of great things to come. If she doesn't get the job it's no big letdown since she has already mentally prepared herself by envisioning the worst thing that could happen. Not getting the job isn't so bad in comparison to not getting it, being laughed at behind her back, and then being hit by a bus.
To me, positive thought in terms of what you want to happen to you is like setting yourself up for disappointment and failure. Having a "just my luck" mentality is the opposite you are preparing yourself for disappointment and failure so if it does happen it isn't as brutal to your psyche. It also tends to leave more room for your mind to be content with what it has instead of always looking for more.
Statistically positive thought doesn't stand a chance. There just aren't that many mansions on hills and perfect jobs and such in the world. They are great because they are limited, much like diamonds. If they were available to all they wouldn't have value. So I figure it's a good idea to prepare yourself, Murphy's Law is out there, and no matter how well you plan, how hard you work, and how positive you think, sooner or later Murphy will get you. A flat tire, cancer, tornado... there are a million things that can screw up your plans and it's best to be prepared.
(Here's a question: Do people who believe in the power of positive thought buy insurance? And if so, isn't that counterproductive?)
posted by AnywhereEden | 5:47 PM
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