Why you need to think more positively…

A friend of mine, and someone who works in mental health and personal development, tweeted something yesterday that got me thinking. I’d written about this years ago, but it keeps cropping up.

It’s what I like to call the defense for negative (some call it critical or realistic) thinking. Her argument is that “critical thinking” is as valuable as positive thinking. She used the Yin-Yang metaphor to say that we need both to be grounded and balanced.

I have to tell you, I’ve been at this for a long time. Critical thinking is an important skill for analyzing the world and making judgments about it. However, it’s complementary to positive thinking not its opposite. I feel like this was one of those time when someone was calling negative thinking critical thinking.

Here’s the deal and your own experience will likely bear this out. Few human beings have a hard time thinking negatively. Few of us have any problem doubting ourselves or stopping before we start because we might fail.

We’ve got that down. Positive thinking and its necessary partner positive action are a counter-balance to the overwhelmingly negative tendencies of human beings. If you’re among that small percentage of the population who wake up blowing sunshine from your eye balls, I’m not talking to you.

Most of us have to work at staying positive, staying confident, and maintaining belief in ourselves long enough for it to make a difference. We don’t need an artificial infusion of doubt or balanced thinking. The positive thinking IS the balancing thinking.

Is it possible to lose your grounding and fly away into a false, dreamy stratosphere? Yes. When you get there, then you can worry about that. For most people, you’re working to get over the next hurdle and keep clawing for your dream. I’m encouraging you to keep taking mega-doses of the positive thinking. It’s the Yin to the status quo’s Yang.

There are NO coincidences!

Ray