Is the “Positive Thinking” Craze Worth The Hype?

If you are like me, you own a few positive and motivational books that may include: “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” Rhonda Bryan’s “The Secret,” Joel Olsteen’s “Become A Better You,” and the list goes on.

One positive theory has to do with The Law of Attraction, which is heavily discussed in the book, “The Secret.”  This theory basically, says that whatever you focus your energy and attention towards, you will attract into your life, rather good or bad.

So, if I think that my job is crappy and continue to feel negative about it, more than likely I will be stuck with the same crappy job for eons with no other opportunities.

However, if I think about how wonderful my job is or how wonderful my job can be, then more positive opportunities will come my way.

But what if those positive opportunities never happen?

This leads me to ask, “Does positive thinking set us up for a false hope?”

Self-help gurus and their books tell us that if we create a “dream board” and put everything that we everwanted on it such as: a Mercedes Benz SLR 722 or a fabulous $30 million dollar residence, with 10,000 square feet sitting on over 2 acres, on Miami’s star island; this will come true?

Ummm..…probably not.

And what about the negative consequences or flip side of, “Positive Thinking?”  For example, if a person is rear ended in a fatal car crash or dies from a terrible disease did that person bring that action on his/herself?  Of course not.

It irritates my soul whenever Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong says that he survived cancer because he was positive in his thinking.  Really Lance?  What about the dozen other cancer victims who remained positive who didn’t survive?  Were they not positive enough?

 B*tch Please...

And yes, I understand that negative thinking is not the way to go.  Small minded, negative thinking that occurs among certain family members, in our political system, and throughout society has lead to so many people being locked in to certain situations and lifestyles that are not good for society or their well being.

So, how should we balance positivity thinking?

1. The first and most difficult step is that we must be 100% truthful about our reality and authentic in accepting the facts as they stand.  Simply put, “Stop Making Excused and Just Keep It Real.”  Sometimes we put up so many facades, we are afraid to deal with who we really are.
   
2. Forget material things, focus on your emotional self.  For example, “Are you so focused on everyone else, that you don’t take care of yourself?”  “Do you hide behind name brand clothes and makeup to hide the real you?” “Why do you think that everyone is stupid except you?”  “Are you in a relationship because you are afraid of being alone?”These are difficult questions and hard pills to swallow once the truth is accepted.
   
3. The next step is to take concrete steps to start chipping away at the problem or towards the goal without overwhelming yourself.
   
4. The last step is to always have faith and use the positive thinking to take you through each step.   Remember, positive actions and change takes time.

The steps are more simple than what most of our reality dictates but in order to overcome life’s challenges without going insane, positive thinking is the best alternative when dealing with life’s challenges.

Live Positive!

Joveline

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