Posts Tagged "positive thinking"

Driving down Birchmount near Scarborough Grace Hospital (currently being changed to another name because the Salvation Army is no longer sponsoring it) I came across a feeling.

I looked around and noticed the surroundings were a melody of glorious green and yellow. The dandelions dotting the evergreen grass reminded me of how my yellow t-shirt and jacket also brought to the trees around me a nice complement as well, in a je ne sais quoi (‘I just can’t describe‘) type of way.

The entire scene lasted a very interesting 3.5 seconds, my vision changing with its’ surroundings moving further south on the road, was eclipsed by the bright red light from the intersection… which then turned green perfectly in time for me to continue my journey.

Life’s problems, of all shapes, sizes and sheerness are like that; what feels difficult goes from gone to good as soon as we accept.

I was actually meditating on abundance as I was looking at the green and yellow scene. Green representing greenbacks, and yellow, brilliant gold. Greenbacks are the U.S and entire world’s image of financial power, and gold was the traditional measure of monetary abundance.

When you look at everything in your home, if you want, you can see abundance in those things. Turn on the tap and you can see water flow, just like money flows in and out of our lives in various amounts; you can imagine turning the tap and controlling how much water (money) flows. Or y’know, you might think that’s a lame thing to do.

If you own plants, and see them growing, you can think about them as your accounts, loving them and excited to see them grow.

These things may not seem to matter to most people, and in an easily noticeable sense, they don’t, but if one has the choice between looking at things as positive symbols of one’s success, or ‘just objects,’ the positive thoughts are the way to go.

There was a study done a little while ago on the effects of positive thinking on health. The study highlighted what appears to be a direct correlation between positive thinking and the occurrence of Alzheimer’s. Of course this study, like many, is only a hint towards a direction to explore, not some kind of conclusive concrete proof that everyone will easily swallow. A more in-depth look at the science behind positive thinking can be found in Barbara Fredrickson’s book Positivity.

Excerpt from a review:

She knows that Positivity is not particularly likely to further her academic career. She knows, too, that the benefits of positive emotions have already been widely touted…By explaining how science can show what actually happens in a person’s body and life as a result of positive emotions, Fredrickson hopes to reach the skeptics who might otherwise dismiss positivity as just a new set of rose-colored glasses.

Though she radiates joy and compassion, Fredrickson is no Pollyanna. Her initial motivation for investigating positive emotions was simply that few other psychologists were doing so. She also admits to once having been told (by a close friend) that she studied emotions because she didn’t have any.

I haven’t read Positivity personally (I’ll probably pick it up soon,) and I’d like to note that solid, scientific (double-blind) research on the effects of thinking positively are difficult to find, and that fact brings me to this interesting quote from Dr. David R. Hawkins (author of Force Vs. Power).

Human reason exhausts itself ceaselessly to explain the inexplicable. Explanation itself is high comedy, as preposterous as trying to see the back of one’s own head, but the vanity of the ego is boundless, and it becomes even more overblown by this very attempt to make sense of nonsense. The mind, in its identity with the ego, cannot by definition, comprehend reality; if it could, it would instantly dissolve itself upon recognizing its own illusory nature. It’s only beyond the paradox of mind transcending ego that what Is stands forth, self-evident and dazzling in its infinite Absoluteness. And then all of these words are useless. (Emphasis Added)

So it seems there’s little-to-no scientific evidence as to why one should look at everything as a positive metaphor. There’s also a 2000+ word long tirade on why positive thinking sucks from e-skeptic.com (though I think it rails against people who don’t really understand the concept yet fanatcize about it from what I gleaned.) Still, there’s plenty of anecdotal or empirical evidence for it, and metaphors for abundance, beauty, and success can be seen anywhere and in anything, if you’re open to it.

I’d suggest giving it a real chance. You may be pleasantly surprised.