The Real Secret of Positive Thinking
A few months ago I started watching a movie called ‘The Secret’. I gave up on it after about half an hour. I do agree that positive thinking is life changing, but I just couldn’t buy what they were trying to sell. I always feel a bit uneasy when spiritual people try to tie their ideas in with science; in this movie they attempted to link positive thinking with quantum mechanics. Maybe the makers of the film feel that this gives them some credibility, but it just makes me uneasy. My philosophy is that if something works it works and there is no need to dig too deeply; theories about things are often wrong. I know that this movie has benefited a lot of people and I respect that; it just wasn’t for me.
http://nghomes.com/2021/05/31/is-bitcoin-safe-to-invest-in-2019 The Real Secret of Positive Thinking
I know that thinking positively has benefited my life hugely; I’ve experienced how this works again and again. The idea though that we can just expect the universe to provide for all our desires by some ‘law of attraction’ just doesn’t make sense to me. I also feel that if it were true that life would soon get pretty boring. I have found that half the fun of achieving something is the journey; that fight to turn dreams into reality. It also seems to me that the fun is often getting what I need rather than what I want; this is because there is usually a lot more satisfaction in the unexpected.
Thinking positively keeps me motivated; I’m also convinced that it is a healthier way to live both mentally and physically. What we think does impact what we are; I have no doubt about this. I also have to be willing to let go of the process though; to have faith that my path will take me to where I need to be if I allow it to. Trusting in the process makes life easier than trying to steer the ship too rigidly. The journey might not be taking me to where I intended, but so far it has been an interesting ride. I see things like positive thinking and ‘letting go’ as tools. I don’t care how these tools work; I only know that they do.
What do you think?
Is positive thinking useful?
Is the idea of ‘letting go’ reckless?
Is ‘The Secret’ the most important movie ever?
Like they say, Is the Glass halph full or halph empty? I wonder if this is jusy your nature, or is it a learned behavior? I think we are scripted by out folks/ environment. Just happy that I tend to stay on this side of the fence.
Take care,
Ivan
Hi Ivan, I was generally a positive person in my early teens but lost it along the way. I started cultivating this attitude again though a few years ago; I suppose it is at least partially learned behavior. The more I see it works the more I trust in it.
There are bad monks in the world also bad preist in ever religion also bad people we lived amongst if all monks were to be perfect in everway they would be called sammasambuddhas the enlightened one buddha gave his teaching to the world, he cant take you to nibban (Nirvana) he just paved the road for us now its up to us to get there on our own dont believe in everything you read or hear or what your teachers have taught you, your eyes is the biggest problem to suffering everything it sees brings thoughts good or bad but mostly desires what buddhism taught me is to let go , stop clinging on worldly things and this is very hard to do go see for your self meditate you will find peace there
I don’t think I made it through the first chapter of that book… agree with you though- I am glad it helps some people.
Thanks for dropping by Drew. I forgot that it was a book as well.
As an addict with a lot of issues, here’s where I am on all this:
Centered thinking is a better place to operate from than positive thinking. Centered thinking is about a place of stability that isn’t so tossed around by the comings and goings of life. We don’t take everything so personal. The universe has already provided everything for you. We can live out of the awareness that things are what they are, and that love, compassion, joy and equanimity are of benefit in any situation. (Yes, it’s Buddhist stuff.) If you work with your mind to continually develop those 4 characteristics, you won’t go wrong and great things will indeed happen in your life. “Positive thinking” can set us up as addicts to have expectations that are nothing more than magical thinking. When we don’t get what we want as expressed in our “positive thinking”, addicts can be in trouble if they believe they should have things come out the way they want. Positive thinking can trick us into believing we have control where we have none.
Hi Zentient, I agree with you completely that it is easy to set ourselves up for disappointment if we expect that everything is going to go our way in life. For me positive thinking is the belief that my life is going to take me in a positive direction if I let go. I managed to get sober at a Thai temple and an important part of the treatment was the sajja vow; the promise is that if I stay sober my life will get better – this has been my experience.
I find that thinking in a positive way motivates me to do things. So far this has worked out well for me; things hardly ever work out as I expected but the end results tend to bring joy to my life. I see all these things as tools and so long as the tool works I’ll keep using them. One of the things that I decided a few years back was to judge things on the basis of utility rather than vague theories. I do my best to cultivate equanimity through mindfulness practice, but my motivation for this is that it is my experience that it benefits my life. I think that centered thinking is probably quite similar to letting go( which is similar to equanimity).
I do believe that we are very much what we think; I have seen this over and over again in my life. I spent some time working in Palliative care and you could more or less predict how long it would take people to die just by their attitude; those who were positive lived longer. This is why positive thinking combined with letting go is what works best for me – or at least until I find something better 🙂
This is an interesting coincidence since a friend just sent me this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5um8QWWRvo
I think the video oversimplifies a few things but ties into what you are talking about here.
When I first picked up The Secret at the bookstore I was immediately turned off. Then it became extremely popular and I heard there was a movie. I saw it and thought it was just as cheesy as the book but – interesting.
The book is dumbed down in my humble opinion. Positive thinking can really get you into a bad frame of mind if things don’t work out the way that you hoped. But, it is a tool and more than just a state of mind – it’s a way of thinking.
Hi Lani, I’ve actually written something about Barbara Enrenreich previously http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2622219/positive_thinking_and_cancer_report.html?cat=5
I do feel that she makes some good points; nobody should be made to feel guility about not feeling positive. I find positive thinking is useful in my life because it provides comfort in the idea that things are going to work out in the end – they always do. It is only when I get attached to an idea of how they should work out that problems occur. This is why this idea of ‘letting go’ is just as important.
Holy Moly , the world of absolutes! To much of anything is obviouly not going to be beneficial, Maybe having a Positive attitude, 10 deg. off of central is the goal. But being on that side of central could be a slippery slope, though, who knows what could happen, one could slide down that slippery ski slope of optimism, tumbling over high hopes, inevitably smashing into, through the tree of despair. ;-(. Better to stay on the tight rope called center,being ever so mindful of the trauma laying in wait,,, ommmm.
I looked at the video and writing from Barbara Enrenreicht? the economic melt down was caused, or is partially attributed to Positive thinking?? Like I said before, Holy Moly, folks have got to get a grip!
Thanks Paul, I am a little jacked by all of the U.S. political Hyperbole, lucky I am in Singapore , if I was their they would need to lock me up in a tin box 😉
Thanks Ivan, I too am a bit fearful of absolutes; black and white thinking. I once believed that the internet would make people more open minded about life, but sometimes it seems to have the opposite effect. Too many people tend to look at things as either right or wrong; if something isn’t perfect then it can’t be any good. I think the truth of life is in the grey and not the black and white.
AMEN Brother
Paul I’d say positive thinking is a wonderful thing if channelled through the right areas of life. The medical side of life has benefited hugely from it with many people claiming to have beaten life threatening illnesses because of it. Sport is another area which uses positive thinking as an effective tool. People use positive thinking to great effect in everyday life, but for most of us the mundane way of day to day life eventually beats it down.
I have often wondered if positive thinking is easier to control when we are younger or older. I have a feeling that like learning languages our youth wins the day.
Hi Martyn, it is an interesting question. I think as we get older we do tend to become more cynical; maybe this is the same reason why many older people become more conservative. I don’t think that it has to be that way though. If people tend to be a bit negative than changing that would likely be very hard. Most of us don’t change our ways unless our back is against the wall – at least that has been my experience anyway.
Hey Paul–
Have you ever heard of the Radio Lab podcast? It’s a really amazing science show about common things in our lives like words, time, numbers, etc. They explore these themes and explain them in a way that is easy to understand. They recently did a show called “Deception”. At the end, they discussed a *huge* study that showed that people who were positive thinkers (they were called self-deceivers, actually, because of the kind of study that was being done) were actually more successful in life. People who were not self-deceivers were more likely to be depressed. It seems like common sense when I write it out, but the show really blew my mind. Here’s a link to it: http://www.radiolab.org/2008/mar/10/
Also, have you ever heard of The Happiness Project? I think you would like it!
Hi Megan, I will check that out. I once heard successful people described as those who were too dumb to accept that something was going to be almost impossible 🙂
Paul,I think positive thinking is a very powerful force that can really impact ones life. I try to think positively as much as possible and keep a positive outlook although sometimes the negative does creep in.
As for the Secret…worst load of rubbish ever put out. New age thieves stealing peoples money and dreams. One of the founding members had 2 people die in a sweat lodge last year. The people were kept in the heat too long without water to cleanse their spiritual beings.
Thanks Talen, it is terrible to hear that people have died because of misplaced trust. People who are looking for answers in life often make easy targets for manipulators.
Hi Paul,
Positive thinking is a very powerful force, no doubt about that. However, standing in front of a mirror every day repeating day by day in every way I’m getting better and better will most likely have little or no effect on you.
Why is this so? Because for positive results to happen you need to use visualization and actually see yourself getting better and achieving your goals.
The subconscious mind responds more to feelings and images, than just a mantra chanted over and over again.
Hi Mark, I had heard that athletes and so on do benefit from positive imagery. It does make sense that the subconscious mind would deal better with images; from my experience it is easier to remember foreign languages using pictures.