I have never been a firm believer in positive thinking. Not that I don’t believe that people shouldn’t have positive attitudes or look on the bright side of life. It is, simply, that positive thinking isn’t enough. We need positive action, and our lives are such an intertangled mess that our own positive thinking and actions are never enough to change our circumstances. We cannot effect change by ourselves. Even on our own lives.
I am starting to come around on the idea. I spent five minutes yesterday looking for free methods of stress relief and a couple suggestions were guided meditation and hypnosis apps. So at 3:30 AM when I couldn’t sleep I decided to imagine the sun melting the stress away and all the stress evaporating into the air, and you know what? It worked. I suddenly felt lighter and better and went back to sleep.
It doesn’t solve the problems, nor should we delude ourselves in thinking that positive thinking has any real power, but if it makes it easier to get through the day maybe it is worth trying. It could always end up being a serenity now, insanity later situation, but that is a road we will cross when we get there.
Imagining the stress melt away is certainly better than fixating on the loved ones I have and am watching fade away and the realization that this is my fate. That one day I will slowly shrink into my own mind and my children will be forced to watch it. Maybe in twenty to thirty years the US will adopt some form of death with dignity laws and I can save my family from that hardship.
And it is thoughts like that that make a difficult situation worse. There is no reason to even think about thirty to forty years down the line when there are enough troubles facing today. It is better to imagine the stress melting away. Lifted off by the golden rays of the sun. Fading into the clouds and raining down on some other unlucky chap.
Positive thinking will never solve any problem, but it can help clear our minds. It can get us into a place where we can think and focus. Where we can work on the problems instead of fixating on them. Today I am going to melt the stress away. I am going to look into free apps and YouTube videos when I feel it return, and I won’t let myself be overwhelmed by thoughts of the distant future.
David Huzzard Writes 