Published on 2024-07-26 by Teagan Pacheco
Hello fellow prospectors and good morning. I think I can speak for all of us when I acknowledge the sanctification of this positive space. While here, we cultivate ideas and hone our skills, ultimately improving upon our abilities. Despite the uninvited inner thoughts that readily doubt and scold and vituperate, each of us uplifts and praises each other after every speech. Are you being a good friend to yourself? Why do we rely on others for validation? Today I will be speaking on Positive Thinking.
As far back as Ancient Rome during the turn of the first millennium, philosophers such as Heraclitus, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, pondered on what they called, “eudaimonia” or the “'good spirit”. In all their wisdom, they understood this modality as the combination of well-being, happiness, and prosperity. This determination has long been accepted as truth, notwithstanding its multiple interpretations. For instance, during the Renaissance Period between the 14th and 16th centuries, faith-based acquiescence was promulgated largely due to conditions believed to be out of the layman’s control. Shakespeare is quoted saying, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” Approaching closer to the mid-20th century, American psychologist Abraham Maslow, first coined the term “positive psychology” in 1954. His goal surrounded the range of human needs and motivation as he studied people he believed were healthy, creative, and productive.
Since its inception, it is now held that positive psychology and positive thinking come in three formats; the Pleasant Life, the Good Life, and the Meaningful Life. Every day, we knowingly or unknowingly pass through these three operating conditions. The Pleasant Life ought to be lived in prescribed doses because this is the immediate gratification we desire in things like fast food, TV, premium subscriptions, impulse purchases, and general relaxation. There is a time and place for these leisurely activities as they give almost instant pleasurable emotions in our everyday lives. The Good Life enhances and enriches our lives by identifying our skills, traits, and attributes - both good and bad - and how each one enables us to prosper in a given career, relationship, or lifestyle. When you play to your strengths, you can more quickly find success which will inevitably fuel your happiness and permit a mindset of willingness and enthusiasm. We all know too well you can spiral downwards in a bleak cycle. However, there is such a circumstance as spiraling upwards, building upon the momentum and vigor with a positive and constructive feedback loop. Finally, the Meaningful Life is enjoyed when we find fulfillment usually by enabling others to do well or contributing to something greater than ourselves such as volunteer work, community fundraising, or mentoring the unguided. When we discover opportunities in which we feel helpful or supportive, we receive a true sense of lasting joy. The great Stoic philosopher Rufus of the Roman empire said, "If you accomplish good with hard work, the labor passes quickly, but the good endures; if you do something shameful in pursuit of pleasure, the pleasure passes quickly, but the shame endures."
The detractor that often usurps my otherwise sagacious disposition, insists that I am lacking in a great many qualities; I am too little of this and too much of that. It is an onerous challenge to suppress these thoughts particularly when our usual escapist tendencies are put away like when we are alone with our thoughts right before bed. President Theodore Roosevelt said, “Comparison is the thief of joy” and I believe that is where we begin to treat ourselves unfairly. Across the roughly eight billion living humans on earth, there may very well be eight billion unique trajectories. It is only fair to judge yourself against yesterday. I find easement in knowing that all the greatest humans throughout time and around the world including athletes, politicians, inventors, soldiers, philosophers, academics, and explorers, were just that - humans, just like you and me. It is said that Marcus Aurelius, the last of the Five Good Emperors of Rome, hired an assistant to follow him as he walked through the Roman town's square to remind him as he received praise, “You’re just a man. You’re just a man.” This far in life, I have more or less learned my general limitations, but it is paramount we continue to push beyond our comfort zone and see how much more we can do if we just put our minds to it. Speaking for myself, I fear looking incompetent in front of others and avoid places and conversations I have little experience in because I’m less likely to fumble. However, the best things in life are on the other side of fear. If I can inch myself into a new realm with the understanding that I am my own person with my unique trajectory going up and to the right at the exact pace I’m supposed to, everything begins to fall in place. I’m no longer behind because John Doe is ahead, I’m no longer keeping up with the Joneses, and I’m not concerned about how much more money my cousin makes. The Stoic philosopher Seneca says, “It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste so much of it." This includes allowing covetous thoughts to invade and take hold over our minds and fester like undiagnosed cancer that spreads to previously healthy areas, now corrupted.
Today, with more scientific and empirical data available to us than ever before, we understand that there are numerous avenues to achieve a more optimistic outlook. Strategies such as practicing gratitude, mindfulness and meditation, healthy relationships, and generosity and compassion all work wonderfully as a means to cultivate positive thinking. William James, the American philosopher and psychologist of the late 19th century said, "Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action." Positive thinking starts with our actions but is all too susceptible to influence by our emotions and feelings. That is not to say we ought to deny our feelings, but instead to hear them with the awareness that they are easily inculcated by thoughts of greed, envy, and hate. It can’t be stressed enough, that while on this journey of life, we should only collate our progress against ourselves. If we reflect on the progress we have made over the past year or five years, then it becomes easy to see how far we have personally come and begin to enumerate the various obstacles we conquered. Consistency is our ally here for the slow and steady will always win the race.
Positive thinking is one of the best gifts you can give yourself. There is only so much room in your head and permitting those negative thoughts to crowd your mind, compounds your inability to push them out. Think of your mind as a clear, pretty blue sky and those disruptive thoughts as clouds. Don’t grant those little clouds to block out your clear sky and intensify the storm that incommodes your rational and sensibility. You can become a better friend to yourself by changing your behaviors to promote a positive mindset. If you wish to feel better, do better. If you wish to associate with better people, be a better person compared to who you were yesterday. Jerry Sternin, the late director of the Positive Deviance Initiative said, “It's easier to act your way into a new way of thinking, than think your way into a new way of acting.” You will feel discouraged, defeated, and discordant, but trust the process and keep moving forward through the dejection because though our negative thoughts are cacophonous in nature, it is only a temporary distraction that you have the power to upend. As with our three formats of positive thinking, it is a daily task to live and act a life worth living. What is stopping you from beginning today?