Balanced Living: Boundless Optimism or False Positivity?

Some people seem to be eternally cheerful and optimistic no matter what happens in their lives.

Their positivity extends so far as to be able to see a broken foot as "an opportunity," rather than an accident. Some of us end up standing around scratching our heads wondering whether they are really that positive... or are they merely fearful of negative emotions.

Sometimes — in the course of my counseling practice —I get asked whether I think such people are being disingenuous or are they just that positive?

Keeping in mind that I run a ministry that is centered around "The Power of Positive Focused Intention," even I sometimes think people are going a little bit too far. Or maybe they are actually hiding something.

Positivity is a great thing, but it's not unusual for excessive positivity to actually be a smokescreen hiding over some kind of deeper issue, often related to a past trauma, perhaps involving somebody being belittled or diminished for being depressed or negative.

Don't let anybody see you sweat!

One potential downside to being eternally positive and going through life like you have positive control over every single thing is that when things actually are not going well — but you're putting up a false front — much needed help is less likely to be offered to you.

After all, people look at you and think everything's OK even when they're not OK, and so they're not going to voluntarily step up.

This is not because they're not helpful, it's because they simply aren't aware that you could genuinely use some help. The "cheerful mask" is actually not serving you!

On the whole, though, the best strategy consistently seems to be that of taking a realistically optimistic approach to life.

When I say "realistic," it means having conscious awareness of what's happening in your world, including owning the negatives when they do happen.

If you're in a solitary sinking boat out to sea, and the boat is being circled by sharks, insisting that "everything is going fine" is probably not the most productive thing you can be doing… particularly if you're not actively trying to find a way to get the water out of the boat and plug the holes!

Setting a positive intention and steering towards it is not the same thing as pretending that something terrible that happened didn't actually happen, and that we can make it go away if we just act like it isn't there. You might be able to gloss over something in the short term, but it's bound to come back to haunt you!

Thanks for coming to visit, and Bright Blessings to all!

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The White Light Express Mission Statement:

Since October 2001, the mission of the White Light Express has been to offer healing and transformation through focused positive intention, meditation and prayer. Right Thought is the first step toward Right Action and consciousness. We believe that “holding the vibration” is a profound task and our divine destiny.

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