Positive Thinking

Posted on July 19, 2007
Filed Under Journal, Dreaming, Spirituality, Consciousness |

The Power of Positive Thinking. What is “Positive Thinking” all about? Well, that would depend upon your definition of negative thinking. I personally feel both the terms positive thinking and negative thinking are very misleading, and give the wrong impression on how to handle our thoughts. This is the second part of the series begun in “How can I change my Life?” and as promised, focuses on identifying our thought processes, and the problems of so called, Positive Thought. There is a lot of power within the “method” we use to think, so it is important to understand how these methods work. The terms negative and positive evoke certain assumptions of perceived effects and benefits. Positive thinking could generally be considered to think empowering thoughts, whilst negative thinking could mean to think dis-empowering thoughts. Affirmations then come into the whole deal - and that is perhaps where we should truly start, and avoid the positive thinking courses and quotes.

Affirmations are about consciously creating certain positive (empowering) thought patterns. The keyword in that sentence of course is not “positive”, but “consciously”. That is a vital distinction - it’s not a particular technique but rather a misunderstanding in the general perception of the subject of so called positive thinking. If you have decided to approach the idea of positive thinking - then first take a step back and reconsider the term. I propose in place of “positive thinking”, you use “conscious thinking”. Likewise replace “negative thinking” with “unconscious thinking”. It puts an entirely different spin on the subject doesn’t it!?

Thinking Positive

Of course those terms aren’t quite as door-to-door salesman friendly as their positive and negative variants, but then I suspect that is the entire point. That is, it’s very easy to get caught up in popular trends that aren’t really all that effective - other than for marketing purposes. So away from the superficial ideas shown in “The Secret” - the real deal is about learning to think consciously.

Most of us do a lot of unconscious thinking - some more so than others it is true - but nonetheless it is something that affects pretty much all of us. Unconscious means unaware, so unaware thinking would be automatic thinking - following the thoughts that randomly pop into our heads (like the various kinds mentioned in Part One), and reacting to them without any due considerations. On the other hand thinking with awareness, is about understanding that certain random thoughts do indeed pop into our minds for a reason…and that some of them are deeply meaningful, whilst others are pretty much garbage. Once you can identify which is which, you can then act accordingly. Do you follow the thoughts or not? If so do you act on them – and if you feel you want to act on them, then why is that?

Conscious thinking isn’t just about questioning what arises in your mind. It is also about questioning and facing the emotions that certain lines of thought evoke. This isn’t to be mistaken with “negative thinking”, whereby you fall into certain thought-loops; “oh why do I feel this way?”, “why did this or that happen?”, and so on. Instead we need to take a more conscious and balanced approach.

Conscious Thinking.

Try working with your thoughts in much the same manner as you would with interpreting a dream. Why did you think a certain thing? What could that thought represent, what could have prompted it? Just like with dreams many of these thoughts come from the sub-conscious mind - so it is more than feasible to deal with them in much the same manner. This is very different from those negative thought loops because you are looking at the issue from outside of yourself so to speak. Thought loops are such a problem because we try and unravel them whilst inside of them. Stepping back and taking an approach such as with dream interpretation brings us out outside of the thought loops somewhat.

Keep in mind there is a very distinct difference between the following style and techniques of thinking. Positive thinking is about forcing your mind to think in a positive manner. Not everyone’s mind is instantly capable of doing this. Where as conscious thinking is about being aware of what is going on inside of your mind. Conscious thinking is a much more flexible approach, because you are not trying to stop your brain thinking in a certain way - instead you are trying to understand it. Also bear in mind that thinking consciously, means you have to do so with awareness. Awareness encompasses every aspect of your being. So don’t merely analyze your thoughts as a psychiatrist would. Involve the fullest abilities of your person; don’t limit yourself to your intellect alone, include your intuition, your emotions, your gut feelings and whatever other aspects you posses.

Positive Thought

Conscious thinking is about being aware of yourself. That means you don’t have to explain yourself in a logical manner…the mind doesn’t work logically, it works symbolically. Things will have a specific meaning to you that may be meaningless to others. Self awareness is about understanding this.

Thinking consciously is the first step towards a true “Law of Attraction”. Use what works for you, and don’t impose anything upon your mind or person that doesn’t fit. These things take effort, but effort is not the same as being forced.

In the next part of this series, we look at Thought Symbolism – and how to understand the unique methods our sub-conscious mind uses to communicate with us. Getting a grasp on this technique allows you to start physically altering yourself and your life.

Comments

4 Responses to “Positive Thinking”

Thought Symbolism : The Thoughts on July 22nd, 2007 8:37 am

[…] Symbolism is more or less the same as Dream Symbolism and Dream Interpretation. As discussed in Part Two, our day-to-day minds do not function in a logical manner, instead they function in a symbolical […]
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How can I change my life? : The Thoughts on July 29th, 2007 10:13 am

[…] the next part of this series - we take a closer look at how to identify these various thought forms. And take apart the popular […]
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Mark on January 7th, 2008 6:36 pm

I like the direction of this article. I struggled with Wayne Dyer and The Secret. I immediately see the wisdom they are trying to impart but I interpreted this as thinking positive all the time, even when faced with the harsh realities of life. I just couldn’t do this. It brings to mind a saying I heard in the movie The Outlaw Josey Wales, “Don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining.” I find it much more productive to be conscious of thoughts rather than forcing them to be something they are not. Good and insightful article. Thank you.
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Marcus on January 9th, 2008 10:25 am

In a way it’s quite a shame that ‘The Secret’ has become so successful when it is full of mis / dis-information.

Thanks for the comments. I really like that quote from Josey Wales,
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