The Power of Positive Thinking

Except for the past 3-4 years of my life, when I went through the worst phase in my life , I was known as a happy go lucky positive thinker with a fighting spirit to face all challenges in life.

Positive thinking is hard especially when you are going through depression. I had to take a lot of pain, humiliation and was isolated from my loved ones.

I wouldn’t have written this post  2 years ago. Because nothing positive came to my mind then. However, there was a little positive brain cell inside that gave me a ray of hope.

I knew what I had to do to get out of the negativity trap. I needed a lot of sunshine and exercise. Few plates fitted inside my right leg after an accident did not help. However, I walked relentless in the afternoon heat  – venting out all the anger I had inside me while I walked and did not care what the passerby thought of me.

Positive thinking brought me here.

Why do we think negative ?

The fear of the unknown. We all admire God’s beauty and his creations. One of his best creations is a human brain. Yet, there is a limitation. We do not have vision to the future. We cannot predict what will happen in the future.

We can recall past events as they are stored in memory somewhere. Because things did not work out the way we wanted in the past, our brain tricks us to believe nothing will work out in the future.

If we did have the power and we knew exactly what would happen tomorrow or in the near future, then we wouldn’t have worried so much. Humans would have taken corrective action today to avoid future disappointment.

We can’t control the future, however, we do have a problem solving abilities. Every time there is a problem, there is a solution too.

When we live in a negative situation for a long time, brain chemistry is altered. Brain adjusts itself to be in self-defense mode.Brain thinks you are in danger. It was designed to protect you from harm from predators.

You start thinking everyone is out to hurt you and anything you will do will end up with failure.

Most self-help books and motivational speakers recommend that you cut off from negative people. It is not that easy. What can you do when the negative person is in your family or people at work ?

When someone tells you ‘think positive’, the brain does not switch from negative to positive mode in a jiffy.

Thinking positive will not solve the problem. But you know what to do to resolve your problem.

All you need is an attitude. ‘Bring it on’  – I will deal with it.

You do not control your brain, your brain controls your actions.

An airplane does not reach it’s destination on it’s own. The pilot enters the location data of the destination. If s/he enters wrong data, you reach the wrong destination.

If you tell yourself, you can’t do it – you will never make any attempt.

You have to say affirmations. ‘I will win’, ‘I am good at this’, ‘I am not worried about failure’. These affirmations will help your brain to come out of it’s self-defense mode. It thinks it is safe to venture out and there is no danger of predators. It will start working normal and start thinking of next steps.

If you think that you will fail in your interview – you will do everything you shouldn’t do in interviews. You will not bother ironing clothes. Your body language will be negative and it will reflect in the interview.

If you think positive, there is no guarantee that you will be selected. However, there is a possibility that you will confidently answer all the questions.

Most problems are man made 

I am sure God is watching all of us and laughing at us. Because he gave everything we need to live a comfortable life. Sunlight, fresh air, water, vegetables, fruits and a beautiful world to live in.

However, man was not content. He invented money.

And there is something unique to humans – ego. Even if the solution is available, some people won’t try. Because our brain has gone in self-defense mode. You have adjusted to this situation and you don’t want to come out of it.

What is the worst thing that can happen in your life ?

Another approach of thinking positive is to think what is the worst that can happen to you.

Lose your job ? Lose money ? Lose your loved ones ? – I have experienced it all.

Can you do anything about it ? Then just do it.

When  positive thinking does not work ?

If you have read this post and you start thinking positive and you open the door while flying an airplane and jump off hoping to land safely somewhere on the planet, then it won’t work. I haven’t tried and I won’t recommend.

There is no magic in positive thinking. A solution based thinking is the only way to resolve all problems.

Another approach to positive thinking is, if life was all hunky-dory, wouldn’t life become boring ?