Routes to Self Improvement

There was a woman whose entire life was surrounded by negativity.  After a time, she too became as negative as the people around her.  Conversations with her would involve past memories that were sad and depressing, and there seemed to be no laughter in her voice.   As her depression grew, there was no longer room for the light and she soon died of cancer.

Positive thinking is synonymous with good health.  Any doctor or psychologist will tell you that being in a state of depression will only cause illness, but living in a state of happiness can guarantee a longer life span.

There have been so many stories written about men and women who lived to be a hundred or more.  When asked what attributed to their longevity part of the answer would always include the words “positive outlook” and a “happy existence.”

The movie “Pollyanna” is an example of what positive thinking can do for a person, a people and a town.  It can lift you out of yourself and allow you to grab on to life with gusto.  It can cheer up even the grumpiest of people.  Yes, it can even turn Scrooge into a loving, caring and giving individual.

While there may be reasons not to be positive they should be pushed aside.  Trying to control everything just leads to depression, stress and negativity.  Control only that which you can and leave the rest to fate.  Live a life full of positive people such as family and friends.  Avoid those people who bring you down or have a view of life that always leaves them sad and dejected.

Positive thinking can be attained through affirmations.  Said daily, they can immediately take you out of the bad mood you’re in and literally make you happy.  You can meditate as well using a mantra of your own choosing.  Whatever it takes, the moment you feel downhearted, think about those who have nothing. Think of those who are caught in wars and famine and of those who have no family or friends.

You may be thinking, “This sounds like the glad game in the Pollyanna movie.”  Well to some degree it does.  Be happy and surround yourself with people who make you happy.  You too, can live to be 100, by living a positive and healthy life.

Positive thinking is one of the linchpins of self improvement, although you will always find someone who dismisses the whole concept as nonsense. In practice, I am not one of those dismissive people. I am absolutely sure that thinking postively is an essential element of bettering oneself. Think negatively too often, and your motivation will surely suffer. After all, if you are drowning yourself in negative thoughts, you are hardly likely to feel very motivated, are you?

There may be some people in the world who never have a negative thought. I think that those who are blessed with such an existence have indeed blessed themselves through mastering their spirituality. They are most likely to lead a spiritual existence in a part of Asia, rather than in the West, and have mastered some form of deep meditation. That is not certain, of course, but is most likely. There may be nobody in the world who never succumbs to negative thinking. That would be sad, so I prefer to think that some such people exist.

For the rest of us, even though we may generally have a positive outlook, a drift into negative thoughts is likely to happen every now and then. On balance, positive thinking may be our norm, but there are times when we lapse into a moment, or longer, of self pity and negative thinking. So, how should we deal with that.

My own way to deal with such lapses is to use self reprimand. I find that it is now automatic, drawing on the fundamental knowledge that I have every reason to celebrate the truly important aspects of my life. I have  a wonderful wife who is about the most positive, and the nicest, person I have ever met. If I wake up next to her with the mere hint of a negative thought, I just mutter to myself inwardly: "Don't be so **** silly." The **** can be any of several mild expletives we use in England. If, during the day I start to get negative for whatever reason, to feel a bit down, I do exactly the same thing. I will even say it out loud if I am alone.

I always know that soon I will have the company of my bright and cheerful wife, or our delightful and entertaining 4 year old daughter will breeze into my "office" (which is also her bedroom). How dare I have negative thoughts!