I am so tired of positive is perfect
I am so tired of the ‘positivity’ movement. Yes it’s nice to have a positive mental outlook but that outlook must be tempered by reality. Any thing else and you are deluding yourself. Reality is not going to go away simply because you want to be positive. Negativity which everyone wants to ignore has it’s place in your life.
I want you to look at a common household item that we all have and all use, the battery. Have you ever seen a batter with one Positive terminal? Of course not, because in order for a battery to work it requires two terminals, a positive one and a negative one. Without that negative terminal that battery would not work. If you don’t believe me, check every battery you can get your hands on they all have positive and negative connections. No matter how small they are. It takes both portions of that battery to create the energy needed to run the device you use it in.
It is the same with life, without negativity to ground us, we do not function correctly. Let me give you a few examples:
Positive Polly can be as positive as she wants about having a nice dinner, but unless Positive Polly acknowledges the negative reality of an empty pantry and take the steps needed to correct that-she is going to bed hungry.
Positive Polly can say I’ll be fine all she wants after scratching herself on a rusty nail, but unless she acknowledges the negative reality of possible infection and treats that injury-She could soon be landing in the hospital with a serious illness.
Positive Polly can be as positive as she likes about getting rich off of the latest scam, and she will still find herself a victim of Fraud.
The truth is that Positive Polly will always be a victim of her own delusions until she acknowledges reality (What Positive Polly’s want to call negativity) and act accordingly. Until you accept reality and stop thinking the world is all roses because that is ‘positive’, You will be your own worst enemy.
Am I saying you have to be negative? No I am saying that the negativity you keep denouncing serves a purpose, it grounds you in reality. As the old saying goes, “Expect the best but prepare for the worst.”
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Comments (51)
Roosevelt Evans III10
Home Business Entrepreneur
Cheryl, I notice in one of your sponsored ads, there is your lovely face and the ad title, "Dare To Dream". Dreams are imagined scenarios of Life that are not grounded in our present Reality. Is that "delusional" positivity? Dreams do come true.
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
No she is not misunderstood. Positive Polly just like Negative Nellie deals with reality through passive expectation (Positive or Negative THINKING). A realist even a negative one deals with reality through action. They evaluate reality and then take the steps needed to deal with it (Positive or negative) By dealing with reality you have no need of Positive or Negative Thinking because you have taken (Or continue to take) the steps needed to create a good or bad result in your life, not 'wis
Gerry Copenhaver5
Team Leader
No, Polly isn't deluded at all, just misunderstood. She sees and recognizes the negative aspects of life, but doesn't dwell on it. She feels pain, grief, anger, frustration but chooses to live her life in such a way as to not allow those things to control her. There are times that negative feelings overwhelm even the most positive person. And there are negative events that cannot be presented in a positive way no matter how hard a person tries. Polly knows this and accepts it for what it is
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
@Garry Positive Polly is just as deluded as Negative Nellie because they both ignore reality. The truth is you have to accept and acknowledge both when you start leaning from one toward the other the slide into delusion begins. @Mirlem Humans were created to be rational reasoning creatures when you ignore that in favor of Positive thinking will bring you everything you are no longer being rational. @Arthur I had a feeling you would comment here. I have always been on that hobby horse! Accepti
Arthur Webster7
Just plain honesty
Hi, Cheryl, welcome aboard my old hobby horse. There is only one common aspect of all the advances that have EVER been made by man - NEED or THE NEGATIVE. Nothing ever got invented because it was not needed. Nothing ever got invented because it already existed. Nobody ever created more of something that they already had enough of. I know that in America there are weapons manufacturers who are saying - "Dammit - these things don't kill enough people" and are busily inventing new methods of killi
Miralem A.6
Music Producer
No one can not be positive all the time. We are humans, creatures with feelings and mind. Although I was raised religious, although I know that my religion says that I must always be positive and satisfying life. It is just not possible.
Very nice article.
Gerry Copenhaver5
Team Leader
I totally agree with pplcheryl. Being prepared for negative things is completely different than dwelling on them. It is also completely different than projecting negativity onto others. I think Positive Polly would be just fine as long as she applies that outlook to doing what needs to be done to keep the pantry full. Even if it's a job she might not care for, she can maintain a positive attitude while doing it. The person you described sounds much more like Deluded Denise than Positive Pol
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
If you carry insurance, you have thought about it Roosevelt. There is a big difference in 'thinking about them' and 'dwelling on them'. When you think about them, you are acknowledging them and then can plan accordingly. The problem with Positive Polly is that Positive Polly Dwells on the positive and wants to hear nothing about the negative side of life. She acts like it doesn't exist and then ends up unprepared for it because she has deluded herself into thing "positive is reality". Real
Roosevelt Evans III10
Home Business Entrepreneur
"The point is that there is a purpose to negativity. What is often called negativity is a necessary part of our survival skills. We ignore it at our peril." What you say here Cheryl sounds a lot like "Murphy's Law", "if something bad can happen it will happen". I too am a Realist, acknowledging good and bad. Postivity and negativity are two sides of the same coin of Reality but despite that acknowledgement I choose a positive attitude about Reality rather than a negative one. Like many others I
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
The point is that there is a purpose to negativity. What is often called negativity is a necessary part of our survival skills. We ignore it at our peril. When you refuse to see and acknowledge the negative you do not plan for it. If you do not plan for it you are unprepared for it and what would have been an achievable goal had you planned for it is now unattainable. You must go back to the beginning and start all over again. With planning for 'negative' reality, you could be past that go
Vivian Fabrizio7
Network Marketing Consultant
I agree with what you have said we as human beings can not be positive all the time. It's not in our nature, but we can have hope. And hope could change that negativity.