The power of positive thinking
It may be a cliche, but more and more people are finding that thinking positively does increase their level of happiness and contentment, and that they experience more things that are enjoyable or that make them more successful. Although the phrase “think positively” has been in use for many generations, the concept behind it has never been marketed and presented to the public as well as it has in the 21st Century. Books like “The Secret” have moved the concept into mainstream media. With key points such as “what you think about, you bring about” and “thoughts become things” one can see that the potential power of attraction through positive thought and affirmations bringing us all our heart’s desires come together to create a compelling read.
Although there may not be significant evidence that would persuade every member of society that following the key points in affirmative texts - such as “The Secret - will bring you health, wealth and happiness; even a move toward thinking positively and affirming the positive aspects in your life can bring about growth and change. As an example, think of a day where everything goes right for you - you wake up to breakfast in bed; your shower is perfect; traffic seems to move out of your way; you manage to park right next to the office door; your boss takes you out for lunch; and on the way home the radio station plays all your favourite songs. Think about the state of mind you are in when you reach the end of a day that goes according to plan.
Now, think about a day where everything goes wrong - you wake up late; there is no hot water and you shower in sub-zero jets of ice; you eat your burned toast on the way to work and mess all over your suit; you find the parking space that is furthest from the door, only to arrive late for a meeting you forgot about; your boss shouts at you, and you have to work through your lunch hour; traffic is terrible on the way home, and two of your tires burst. The state of mind you would be in after a day like this doesn’t bear thinking about.
However, what if - through positive thought - you could have weathered the bad day better than you normally would? You might even turn the tide and start experiencing good things if at any point in the day you decided that no matter what happened, you wouldn’t sink into annoyance, irritation, resentment, and unhappiness. Once you had woken up late, you would already be thinking “typical - this always happens to me”. By the time you have to work through your lunch hour, these thoughts have escalated - and you create a situation where this behaviour is perpetuated; with each bad event followed by another - each bad day followed by yet another. It can be quite eye-opening to think that if positive thought and thinking of attracting positive things into your life does work, then all that misfortune that you attract is actually your own doing.
Online Commentary - Published 2008