What if everything goes right? Positive thinking philosophy and mindfulness

Power of positive thinking

I can remember reading a positive psychology book, many many years ago by Norman Vincent Pele. "The power of positive thinking". The stories in the book were amazing. Powerful message of positivity was reinforced in every page of the book. I still remember Matterhorn and Wall Pharmacy. It made a big impact on how I looked at life. To a level, that I even believed that you could get an Olympic medal if you wanted. There is a way in an alternating universe. If you ask the question why you cannot, I will say its only because you have made some wrong choices. You do not know your every talent. You have not tested all the alternative routes that you can take. That was a good explanation and a good attitude about life. You haven't doesn't mean you can't. As you have not played with all the variables.

Yet when the information sphere got bigger, I started to question this positive psychology. It made me realize that it is just trying to fool yourself when there are enough negative things in the world.

Matterhorn by https://unsplash.com/@szocske

Alternative Negative world

Imagine a butterfly. A positive psychology would teach us a butterfly is a beautiful animal. Some black and white, some yellow like 🌻 sunflowers. Some butterflies blue and pink. They harbor diversity and beauty of all the animals combined. Then I noticed this is only part of the truth. As I learnt there are some butterflies look exactly like predators with big eyes. They have the ability to mimic some poisonous animals so they themselves are saved from the birds. Every animal in the jungle seems to be eating butterflies for dinner. They are at the bottom of the food chain. The tragedy is that they do not know this. They do not know that butterflies end their lives in bellies of other animals more than often. Except the ones in butterfly garden in the zoo.

Just like a poem by Robert Frost. He speaks about stopping by the woods, to see the beauty of a tree. Appreciate a moment and carry on with life.

I compared this with film Madagascar. And the song "what a wonderful world" and came to know, it is not straight forward like "a butterfly is a beautiful animal".

When you train your eyes and mind to see the full picture, suddenly the positivity has changed. And natural negativity bias start to destroy any hope of recovery. Just like Marty, Gloria and Brain, you will start to see the other side of the picture. And then naturally our minds tend to compare this with our own lives. And you start to notice ups and downs. You start to wonder about death, the ultimate demon which makes everything that you do positive or negative useless.

Although we do not understand, it is a huge problem. Often, we tend to run away from those questions like bugs bunny. Yet in the background of the mind we know one day we will get caught. We see this when we see our superheroes when they struggle to climb a flight of stairs.

Bird's point of view.

Becoming a seeker or a millionaire

So, some start a journey of seekers life. I have seen people who wonder into the woods isolated from people to seek the truth. They spend years and years under trees in harsh conditions to find out true meaning of life. And as you can see positive psychology is just a kid when we consider their philosophical minds. Some start to chase a dream, thinking this is the true meaning of life. We have enough millionaires and billionaires as example. Some start to chase a "state of mind" or a "peace" often by manipulating the environment.

As an example, if you are on a beach for a vacation, you would be very likely at peace. Although you may think that this is something you have gained, I would say. Just wait. Just wait until next week when your work and responsibilities start to hit you tomorrow. You cannot live on a beach forever. You can if you devote yourself to be a seeker and willing to live like a Begger. Yet I feel this still is artificial, as you would change when the environment is changed. So it is not sustainable either.

Mindfulness as a potential solution to negativity

Then what is the solution? I see mindfulness as a potential solution as it allows us to touch into reality. The positivity is not natural as we impose ourselves with an altered reality. Negativity is just the opposite, that also a creation of our own. Mindfulness let us see the eternal argument our mind involved in between these positives and negatives. The true reality if exists is neither positive nor negative. It's just valueless.

One problem of this approach to life is these leads to nihilism, and loss of hope. I see countless philosophers who just stop at this point and move into kind of depression themselves which happened to me as well. Then I realize I don't have to be.

https://unsplash.com/@rhondak

True wisdom - the solution- What if everything goes right?

The best analogy for this scenario is to compare it with an adult who plays with kids. He still would build a sandcastle with his children, even laugh and have fun. But he would not cry when a big wave hits the castle and wash it away. Similarly, you can use positive psychology although you know its inherent valuelessness as it is a mental object. And even enjoy doing so. If everything is a thing, created by the mind, why not a positive thing?

So, instead of worrying, you may ask.

What if everything goes right? If life is just a potential It can go right? I bet it will go right 92% of the time even more. That is how positive psychology can be used in a philosophical world of negativity.