Quick Takes: Think Positive!

I had been beset by two abdominal hernias within a few months of each other, almost went completely broke, was still reeling from an emotional relationship breakup, and was becoming so depressed and bitter about life I had recently contemplated suicide.

Needless to say, good times.

Even with all of the shit I've experienced in the last two years, I really hate emotional pandering.

Recently, someone asked me a very traditional and unassuming thing:

"Hey, Niko. How are you."

I stared at them with a subtly changing expression that conveyed my conflicting emotional state.

"Ehhhh..." I said, shrugging.

They looked concerned. (Why I don't know, as I usually respond it such a manner).

"Why is that?" She asked.

I touched lightly over the idea that I was completely unhappy with my life in general.

She seemed to sympathize with me, but added, "Yeah, but you gotta think positive, you know?"

.....Wait, what did you just say?

Think positive?!

Why?!

What are people really saying when they tell you to "think positive"?

To me, this idea of thinking positive, just for the sake of thinking positive, is in error.

Telling me to think positive about something, is, in a way, like telling me to be in denial about all of the facts of the given situation.

"Be in denial!"

Hmmm, you know what? No thanks.

Sure, I probably skew things too far in favor of the negative, and that's not mentally healthy either. Both perspectives are equally biased.

Thinking positively about something that is unlikely to turn out positively will potentially lead to your disappointment. (Disappointment is bad, remember?)

My goal is to learn how to think realistically and clearly, with as little emotional bias as possible.

Sure we always WANT things to turn out for the best, but that does not mean that they always do.

Life is full of both positive and negative experiences, and many colors in between. To only look at it from one perspective gives you blinders, effectively keeping out most of the real content of life.

I know she meant well by telling me to "think positive," but all I hear is, "Niko, ignore reality. That's what I do."

 

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