Positive Thinking

Almost everyone uses the term positive thinking to mean whatever they are thinking is positive and the other person’s thinking is negative. We shall discuss the ways and types of thinking in a later article on Thinking Skills.

However, any form of thinking can take a specific direction as positive or negative. This article tries to provide insight into these directions.

Imagine a simple minesweeper game. There are mines within a few cells but we don’t know where they are. Every step we take may end in disaster. What type of thinking do we need to solve this problem?

In the game, clues are available as numbers. You can use logical or analytical thinking effectively. But no clues are available in reality and if they are available, we do not know which one to trust. In such a scenario, only positive thinking is possible.

Each step we take in life is like a minesweeper game without clues. Some people may say go ahead and some people may warn us not to proceed. We don’t know who to trust because sometimes people who cheat encourage us. Trusting friends and relatives is a safer bet but they also do not know about the consequences and many times they may thwart us from taking risks.

All of us fall from a bicycle when we sit on it. If we don’t want to fall, then we have to learn to balance. Once we learn to cycle, we can ride any vehicle. But when we don’t learn to cycle, all vehicles become difficult.

When we have not learned cycling the only option we have when we sit on the bicycle is to fall. We have no other recourse than to think negatively about falling. And that is what enables us to learn cycling!

Let us say a man comes from a village to a big city. He is filled with so many hopes that whatever happens to him he will take it in his stride. Let him lose all the money, let him be mistreated, or let him become homeless! He will still say that one bad experience is not everything; this is what positive thinking is all about.

A glass can hold the amount of water depending on its size. Suppose the glass is damaged, we will not be able to collect the water. So first, we have to make sure that the container is okay before we fill it with something.

And the clues to developing positive thinking are present in the form of being

“ M I L D “.

M – Minimize negative emotions

I – Increase Self-esteem

L – Learn Happiness

D – Do not mix positive with negative thinking

M – Minimize negative emotions

Our thinking is always influenced by our negative emotions and we can’t think positively when we are under stress. When we are very angry or afraid or sad, we will not be able to think positively (See Assertiveness).

To minimize negative emotions, we should first find out how many times we experienced them in a day. And try to bring each of them (anger, fear, sadness, and jealousy) to zero times per day.

I – Increase Self-esteem

Do something very small that can help others. Respecting and regarding others will result in self-respect and self-regard. Manifesting self-acceptance stimulates accepting others. And others start recognizing our self-confidence and interact positively.

L – Learn Happiness

We are afraid of being happy. Let us learn to be happy about doing small things. Congratulate yourself for doing something good. Even if others do not take cognizance of such an act. Manifesting kindness in our deeds, thoughts, perceptions, and motivations will go a long way in experiencing happiness.

D – Do not mix positive with negative

Negative thinking is necessary for physical and psychological survival. Positive thinking is necessary for social and spiritual survival.

Keep negative thoughts separate and don’t mix them up with positive thinking

Use “M I L D” to stimulate and energize positive thinking.

What, then, is exactly positive thinking?

People always give examples of a glass half full. Accepting a glass half full means that we are rejecting what is empty. Rejection of anything does not come under positive thinking.

Accepting the emptiness along with the other half reflects positivity. Let us go back to our example of the minesweeper. Each step you take may result in either success or disaster. We take the step of trying to accept both the consequences.

Watch this video below to know how positive thinking harms our happiness.

NEGATIVE THINKING

The traditional understanding is that there are three dimensions to thinking.

Neutral thinking does not contain an exact zero as in arithmetic. It is relative to the extent of being away from either positive or negative thinking. The usual misunderstanding is that it is neither positive nor negative, which is erroneous. It has both negative and positive thinking.

Negative thinking stems from negativity. Negativity is natural and automatic. Negativity is essential for survival. Negativity is an essential ingredient of positive thinking.

Negative Thinking happens all the time. Without negative thinking, our chances of survival are very less. Negative thinking energizes us toward action

And we take positive measures to ward off the threat to survival.

Swimming is difficult, and drowning is also difficult. We have the liberty to choose which difficulty we are ready to face. There is no future in drowning, so, the obvious choice is swimming.

We can’t choose to learn to swim after we are engulfed in water. We have to decide to learn to swim beforehand so that when we are in the water, it may help us. So, wanting to learn to swim is a positive action.

This is brought about by the negative thought of possible drowning.

Suppose I climb on a high-rise building. I should have negative thoughts that I will fall. This negative thought forces me to be careful and protects me from falling. And I will not bend down unnecessarily over the parapet.

It is quite unfortunate that people are sold the idea that positive statements indicate positive thinking. However, it is not the statement that matters but the action it signifies.

Statements like ‘I will fall’, ‘I will fail’, etc., may look negative but are necessary to protect us from harm or failure.

Positivity is useless without negativity.

Why do we always think that it is not possible, it is difficult, or it is problematical?

Is to evoke in us a set of thought processes that can visualize an array of possible outcomes.

Negativity makes us attentive. Negative thinking stimulates us to be careful. Negative approaches guide us to be prepared. Negative behaviors help us to avoid dangers.

However, a negative thought is stronger than a positive thought. This is why changing attitudes becomes very difficult.

All natural things are essentially negative. They require a positive intervention to change them. A negative thought gives rise to a counteractive thought.

And this thought leads to a positive intervention.

Is Thinking Necessary to Survive?

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