"We can complain because
rose bushes have thorns,
or rejoice because
thorn bushes have roses."
-- Abraham Lincoln
The phrase in the image above about positive thinking is quite interesting to me. I've heard it said to my face, and when it was, it was all about frustration with a whole lot of resistance going on.
Whether thinking that resistance is like holding onto a rope as in the tug-o-war game resisting the pull of some opponent, or pushing against something that we don't like or don't want, in either case, and in all cases of resistance, we're not yet ready to hear how that struggle need not be. Or, maybe it does need to be. We grow in all situations and sometimes we create without awareness to bring challenges that we have to figure out.
So is positive thinking bullshit? It is if you are in resistance to it, and it isn't if you are not. Simple truth.
I laughed when I first saw this image and saved it for a later time (now!). Then this morning, I Googled it (isn't it interesting how we now say that phrase so easily) only to find a whole lot of videos on the subject, and plenty of articles, many by experts.
I read one just for fun and it made me laugh all the more. It made it sound like because positive thinking is bullshit that negative thinking rules. Well, there is some truth to that if you look around; however, there is no truth in that if you look around. Just as Abraham Lincoln stated, we can focus on the so-called negative of the rose bush or the so-called positive of the thorn bush. And, yesterday's lead quote by Helen Keller is worth repeating here: "Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it."
There seems to be a natural draw or attraction to negative thinking. I know why that is now. It is the ego. The ego is perfect for what it is good at, but it likes to pretend that it is good at everything. But, it is not. It has a very limited scope of usefulness, and yet it is the white noise of the voice in our heads. It pretends to be us, but it is not us. We are much higher up than where the ego lives. It's good to remember this.
As we take charge as if we are even above our body, which in reality we are, we can see how all this is working within us and surrounding us. This gives us perspective. We then can choose what to focus on. From this perspective would I choose negative thinking? Why? I like roses. And, I can appreciate thorns. That's not bullshit to me. It's living a life of joy instead of pain.
I spent more time on Facebook the last couple of days than usual. There are so many positive things there. And, of course, there are negative ones too. One was looking for sympathy in a broken relationship and after reading the story and knowing the person, I put something positive there. Then another post from the same person complaining more, so I posted again something uplifting, or meant to be uplifting. But, I'm certain that this person was thinking, positive thinking is bullshit.
I rarely 'swim upstream' with people anymore, but once in a while I indulge myself in attempting to point out the rose within the thorns. We can't really change people. Only they can change themselves. Sometimes a positive uplifting word or thought might be of benefit, but generally when people are in resistance, there they are until they decide for whatever reason in their own sweet time that they are tired of that and want something better.
Until then, I fully understand that positive thinking is all bullshit.
"Minds Are Like Flowers, They Only Open When The Time Is Right." -- Stephen Richards
Spread Some Joy Today--by accepting yourself as yourself and by learning more about who you are, what you are, and how you serve.
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