Philosophising about life is often not rewarding. Well,
pretty much never! Day to day living on
this planet is a bit of a gamble and when you take some time to study companion
travellers, most of them seem to get on with life using a que sera sera
approach.
Then we start to think how the population seems to be
made up of either positive or negative thinkers with I suppose, a few degrees
in between. Remember the prisoners looking out from their cells…… “Two men look out from prison bars, one sees
mud, the other, stars.”
A perfect illustration written by — Mmmm! According to
Google, could be any one of the following…
Frederick Langridge 1849-1922, Oscar Wilde 1855-1900 or Dale Carnegie
1888-1955. Carnegie, probably not, but there it is, an apt summing up of the
two main opposing divisions of human nature. Author unknown.
Is there anything positive about negative thinking?
Apparently there is or so a psychology lab in New York would have us believe.
It seems that assuming success in a venture can disappoint as one assumes an
achievement without taking the necessary steps to achieve it. I can see that
might be a problem for a particular goal but what about daily living and the
effect on everyday contacts through work, recreation, home life, parenting etc?
The argument goes — picturing certain obstacles to one’s
achievement activates the realisation
that further study or exploration may be required. Recognising such an obstacle
would therefore more likely create success.
As mentioned,
this attitude may well have adverse effects on those around and cause reactions
that in themselves are unhelpful. Is there an upside to negative thinking?
Perhaps negative thinkers should confine themselves to certain professional
areas of their lives rather than causing ructions and dismay among family and
social contacts.
Is positive thinking a good thing? We hear today a great
deal about positive reinforcement for children. On the face of it, this process
appears to be a good idea, but do the children grow up thinking they can do no
wrong and their efforts are always right? That their work does not require
further investigation and/or checking
for errors?
So often today we hear of young ones expecting, as of
right, to be the most popular child, an assumption of success in exams, the
right to a new home fully furnished, that the usual steps in business to career
achievement do not apply to them. That they will expect to be managing director
the day after tomorrow! All these are obviously unreal beliefs, perhaps brought
about by a surfeit of positive reinforcement.
Is there an
upside to positive thinking? Most certainly ‘yes’ from the immediate
relationships point of view with work mates or family, yes there is. Taking
into account the unreality of over-emphasising a child’s confidence, the value
of given talents or abilities and results of exams etc., yes, of course this
can be overdone. So a parent or teacher has to find a middle way.
Middle way or not, no-one wants to live with a
combination of Pollyanna and Shirley Temple or Eyeore and Scrooge, do they?
Pam Laird
Nov 2013
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