Positive Thinking - The big misconception

Positive thinking is one of the most misunderstood concepts in recent years. Many people say that you have to start thinking positive and everything will be allright. The law of attraction will do the additional work.

One word comes to mind here after viewing that video: Balance. Applying some rational thought to positive thinking goes a long way to a deeper understanding of it. The idea that has crept in through many new age practices is that by maintaining a positive attitude, you will attract good things to yourself, therefore creating the life you want. However, this concept completely ignores the fact that Life IS. We cannot bypass universal laws nor change the natural ebb and flow of events that make up existence. Death is the universal experience we all share at the culmination of our lives. It is natural to grieve and feel the loss as sadness and sometimes negative emotions. Try going to a funeral and laughing and passing out feelgood positive comments to the recently bereaved and see what it gets you! Then there are times when we don't achieve what we had hoped for and this leads to feelings of disappointment. Maybe you are one of the lucky ones who is able to see the silver lining in every situation, but don't forget that it is also healthy to acknowledge the loss in the situation. Anything you ignore, finds a way to make itself known again through a different avenue in your life.

Positive thinking can be an awesome tool. So can discernment and taking a reality check. Denial is not healthy. Nobody is 100% positive all the time - and if they were, then you would find that they were masters of repressing other feelings. Be wise and balanced. Take the time to use positive thinking to enhance your life and not as a band aid to cover up the bits you don't like.

From the viewpoint of the Absolute, "positive" and "negative" are labels we give to what IS... after the fact. That doesn't make our labels or the viewpoint from which they're derived invalid, though. We are right to discern, here in material reality. Remembering that our perspective isn't the only one from which events can be viewed and interpreted sometimes helps us to accept both the "positive" and the "negative" of life as equally imminent parts of the Whole Experience.

I think the reason so many are concerned with "positive thinking" and "attracting the positive" is because there's currently a great imbalance on this planet. There is more negativity and suffering than there really needs to be -- all manufactured by the minds of humans. The collective mental illness has naturally sparked a movement back toward mental healthiness.

Thanks for the video clip, GothInk -- I really liked the speaker's message (and his German accent, too ).