Positivity as a Healing Quality

Positivity...blah, blah, blah

If you browse around zaadz often (or are lucky enough to get to hang out with zaadzsters!), then you have heard a lot about positivity.  Once you hear the word multiple times every day, you may start to become desensitized to its meaning (i did).  And, as Martin Seligman points out in Authentic Happiness, a lot of people think that postivity is "fluffy" (not as cool mel uses the word ;-)) "out there" or "unrealistic".  Then a study came out that stated that depressed people see the world more realistically than the rest of us, and it proved  that optimistic people really are wackos.  It may be true that depressed people see the world realistically- on the material level- but they certainly aren't the happiest people, are they?  I mean, they're depressed! 

So, I have a choice whether to live my life as a realistic person who takes things at face value, or I can expect a whole lot more from the world- and myself- and set my expectations higher.   I can be grounded and happy at the same time.  I can expect for those "unattainable" qualities like joy, exuberance and laughter to permeate every hour of my life, and spill into the lives of others around me as well.  I can wake up to the fact that I have been realistic my whole life and it's gotten me...well...a whole lot of realism (and not so much faith, or excitement...or laughter).  As stated in Authentic Happiness, optimistic people have longer life spans, happier marriages and better health.  The bottom line is that I am willing to sacrifice a bit of so-called "realism" for a new outlook that will improve my quality of life. 

New Possibilities

A  positive mindframe opens doors that are closed to us when we have a more negative mindset.  Paulo Coehlo describes the desperation and lack of clarity we experience in challengening situations as staring straight at a black tunnel.  He says, "When we are faced with something that really threatens us, it is impossible to look around, although this is the correct and safer procedure. We can't see clearly, use logic, gather information that can help us and those who try to get us out of that situation. "

Postive emotions facilitate creative problem solving.  If we think about our own lives, we can see examples of this.  If we are upset (we got into a car accident, the dry cleaner stained our shirt again, etc.) and someone tries to cheer us up, they may start by offering alternative ways of looking at the same situation.   Why? So we can open our minds to the realization that  there are multiple perspectives on the same issue.  In other words, they help us become clearer.  In the movie What the Bleep Do We Know, they refer to the detached, clear entity in a situation as the observer.  We can be our own observer.  To be our own observer requires us to take a step back, snap out of our current tunnel-vision perspective, and contemplate all of the approaches available to us.  I think that's a cool idea- to be the observer in our own lives.

To use an analogy, our brain is like a map, and our thoughts are like the roads.  When something occurs in our life, we come to a fork in the road.  Do we turn right- and take the same attitude we always take- expecting the worst and talking ourselves out of possibilities?  Or do we turn left- and try to see things from an alternate perspective?  Turning left takes extra effort because we don't go in that direction very often so it is unfamiliar and even a bit scary.   We may make a very sloooow turn onto that left road, not sure of where it will take us- but that is new and exciting!  With every thought we have, we are turning down another road which will take us to a new destination (peace?  or anger?)  Whichever direction we choose to go with our thoughts is important 1) Because we think in a stream of consciousness, associative type of pattern, where one thought leads to another and develops momentum in our mind and 2) Thoughts lead to actions.

There's evidence.

From a scientific perspective, every thought we have creates a connection between the corresponding neurons.  The more often we have a particular thought, the stronger the synapse (or connection) becomes and it is harder and harder to break it.  When we decide to redirect our thoughts, we are actually working at redirecting those neurons to establish new patterns.  When we stop having a particular type of thought ("I'm lazy" or "I can't do it", etc.), the neural connection dies and our brain is re-wired.  As they say in What the Bleep, our brain looks like a thunderstorm in the the sky- with all the neurotransmitters firing and connections constantly being made and broken.  The cool thing is that we do have some control over what goes on up there! 

Thought Stopping

Something that has come out of the cognitive school of psychology is a technique called "thought stopping".  This is something a person can do on their own, whenever they want to.  You just have to be a little cognizant of your own thoughts, and their effect on you.  If you know yourself well enough to realize that jealous, angry, or worrisome thoughts often get you down, you can train your brain to reject them, in a sense.  Whenever you have an angry/jealous/ worrisome thought, you can tell yourself to stop.  Then you can either meditate and try to clear your mind, or simply redirect your thoughts to other things you'd prefer to think about.  Some people are visually oriented and like to picture an actual stop sign in their  head, or they like to envision that they are closing a door on the "room" of their negative internal banter.  Either way, it can be an interesting tool.  


Positivity + Our Body

Not only does a postive mentality boost our mental health, it increases our physical health as well.  It has been proven that cancer patients with a positive attitude are more likely to survive than their negative-oriented peers.  Having positive thoughts also reduces stress, which is a major killer in our modern society.  Because of the strong mind-body connection, an easy way for us to relax is to generate positive, healing thoughts in our mind. 

There was a study done in India by Dr. Madan Kataria.  He wanted to know if "laughter is the best medicine", so he got a bunch of people together, had them laugh daily, and analyzed the results.  It turns out that daily laughter reduced their stress levels and improved their health.  Since that study was done, there have been numerous laughing clubs formed in India, Europe and the U.S.  There is a short movie called The Laughing Club of India about this subject.

It's a Healing Thing

Working for positive thoughts and attitudes is a healing process.  When we think positively, we protect ourselves from our damaging thoughts and emotions, which are our worst enemies because they develop into stubborn patterns that can sometimes spin out of control.  If we are able to change our emotions and our thoughts so that they are empowering and positive, this can literally transform our lives.  Our potential to grow and to positively influence others lies in each thought and feeling we generate.  Our body, mind, spirit and personality will radiate with joy and happiness when we make the conscious decision to work for healing.