Truths and Myths About Positive Thinking: When Blind Optimism Doesn't Work

In the 21st century, a new religion and a panacea appeared in one person – positive thinking. Think positive — reach any height. Be positive – health will be iron. Smile non-stop – people will be attracted to you. But is everything so cheerful? And doesn't a person who surrounds himself with a fortress wall of positivity run the risk of being trapped? After all, every medal has two sides. And, as you might guess, the reverse side of the positive, alas, is negative. estet-portal.com.

5 Major Myths About Positive Thinking

You can often hear this advice: “Waking up in the morning, smile, even through force; say to yourself: “I’m doing well, the day will be exceptionally successful, the planned — you get …». And so on and so forth. There are countless options. The day, as usual, is coming to an end, and since, as folk wisdom says, day after day is not necessary, and life — zebra, it is quite possible to face the fact that nothing happened today and, in general, there has not been a day worse than today. Moreover, the unbridled morning optimism disappeared in an unknown direction and calls for help to get rid of the depression that legally appeared after a series of failures

responds with an unshakable ignore.

It seems that in the pursuit of happiness, and on a silver platter — without effort and strain, people themselves surrounded positive thinking with myths. And when faced with situations where blind optimism does not work, they just shrug their shoulders.

We agree: optimists live better, and maybe longer, so it's hardly worth setting yourself up for negativity in advance. But is non-stop positive thinking so good, is it always necessary, does it always save? What are the mistakes of blind positivism? It seems that in the pursuit of happiness, and on a silver platter — without effort and strain, people themselves surrounded positive thinking with myths. To avoid disappointment, not to fall into the negative network of positive, our portal invites its readers to get acquainted with the main myths that have shrouded blind optimism, and find out when positive thinking simply does not work. Here are the most common myths, the knowledge of which will make your life easier:

Myth one

Negative – bad, positive – wonderful. Probably even the super-hyper-mega-disconnected individual now smiled. Because he understands that a life path littered exclusively with roses is a myth. But the fact that there are no roses without thorns is true. And the negative – pain, suffering, failure, loss — an integral, sometimes necessary part of life. It is no coincidence that in some Native American tribes, boy initiation includes practices associated with pain. A person can become strong, strong, not afraid of life's difficulties, able to overcome them only when he goes through a painful, negative experience, learns the taste of not only victories, but also defeats. People often think: “I will drive away bad thoughts, I will start looking at the world from a positive side, and life will immediately get better!” But some positive thoughts, even non-stop around the clock, to change the size of the bank account, add health, find love will not help. Moreover, negative thoughts have their own plus! A simple example: eating the fifth cake in a row, a pessimist thinks: “But this is harmful” hellip; I’ll get fat, I’ll earn diabetes & hellip;». From here to the soap: "We must tie with sweets" – one step. An optimist, on the other hand, who is determined to look for the positive in everything, can say: “Come on, once – trifle! But it's delicious, I feel good! And guarantees that this "once" won't happen again for a couple more… hundreds, no. After all, you can always otmazatsya… a positive outlook on the situation.

changing the size of the bank account, adding health, finding love will not help. Moreover, negative thoughts have their own plus! A simple example: eating the fifth cake in a row, a pessimist thinks: “But this is harmful” hellip; I’ll get fat, I’ll earn diabetes & hellip;». From here to the soap: "We must tie with sweets" – one step. An optimist, on the other hand, who is determined to look for the positive in everything, can say: “Come on, once – trifle! But it's delicious, I feel good! And guarantees that this "once" won't happen again for a couple more… hundreds, no. After all, you can always otmazatsya… a positive outlook on the situation.

changing the size of the bank account, adding health, finding love will not help. Moreover, negative thoughts have their own plus! A simple example: eating the fifth cake in a row, a pessimist thinks: “But this is harmful” hellip; I’ll get fat, I’ll earn diabetes & hellip;». From here to the soap: "We must tie with sweets" – one step. An optimist, on the other hand, who is determined to look for the positive in everything, can say: “Come on, once – trifle! But it's delicious, I feel good! And guarantees that this "once" won't happen again for a couple more… hundreds, no. After all, you can always otmazatsya… a positive outlook on the situation.

eating the fifth cake in a row, the pessimist thinks: “But this is harmful” hellip; I’ll get fat, I’ll earn diabetes & hellip;». From here to the soap: "We must tie with sweets" – one step. An optimist, on the other hand, who is determined to look for the positive in everything, can say: “Come on, once – trifle! But it's delicious, I feel good! And guarantees that this "once" won't happen again for a couple more… hundreds, no. After all, you can always otmazatsya… a positive outlook on the situation.

eating the fifth cake in a row, the pessimist thinks: “But this is harmful” hellip; I’ll get fat, I’ll earn diabetes & hellip;». From here to the soap: "We must tie with sweets" – one step. An optimist, on the other hand, who is determined to look for the positive in everything, can say: “Come on, once – trifle! But it's delicious, I feel good! And guarantees that this "once" won't happen again for a couple more… hundreds, no. After all, you can always otmazatsya… a positive outlook on the situation.

“Come on, once – trifle! But it's delicious, I feel good! And guarantees that this "once" won't happen again for a couple more… hundreds, no. After all, you can always otmazatsya… a positive outlook on the situation.

“Come on, once – trifle! But it's delicious, I feel good! And guarantees that this "once" won't happen again for a couple more… hundreds, no. After all, you can always otmazatsya… a positive outlook on the situation.

Second myth

Without positive thinking you will not achieve anything. Maybe you won't get it. But not a fact. Cases when a person achieved success only because, considering himself a loser, a worthless creature, he wanted to get rid of this stigma, are not isolated.  And the cases when a person rushed into battle with a positive attitude "I can!" and could not, even more. Of course, a targeted person is more likely to succeed than the notorious lying stone. To understand that not everything in life is decided by a positive attitude, we can recall the circumstances beyond our control, that everything is in the hands of God, give thousands of objective reasons, or you can simply ask yourself the question: why are a lot of people unhappy, poor, sick, unlucky? Is it really because, as they say, "stupidly" don't want to be happy too lazy to tune in to a positive wave?! But this is nonsense!

A surprising conclusion was made by scientists from the University of Waterloo in Ontario: notorious people who practiced positive thinking mantras a la "I'm the best!", "Life is beautiful!" Indeed, they felt better for several minutes, but then they fell to the very bottom of self-disgust.

An amazing conclusion from their research was made by scientists from the University of Waterloo in Ontario: notorious people who practiced, standing in front of a mirror, mantras of positive thinking a la “I am the best!”, “I will achieve!”, “ “I’ll do it!”, “I feel great!” really felt better for a few minutes, falling into euphoria, but then sank to the very bottom of self-disgust. Cause? A counterargument was brewing inside: “I really don’t need anything, I’m just mediocrity.” Practice shows clearly: at first a person achieves success, and as a result of this, his

self-esteem grows. A positive attitude will never replace action, it can become a "magic pendel",

Myth three

A positive attitude solves all problems. Rose-colored glasses help to look at problems through the fingers, but to solve – far from always. "Don't worry, everything will be fine!" and “Everything will be fine, let me help you get out of the situation,” – it's not the same thing. The second phrase – an example of a positive attitude that, together with help, will really contribute to solving a problem. And the first – soap bubble.

Myth four

Whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger. The social critic Barbara Ehrenreich justifiably threw off yet another rose-colored glasses of positive from the rabid optimists, proving that the schools of positive thinking, which perceive every dead end and failure as something transient, unworthy of attention, put their five cents into the development of the global economic crisis. Divorce, dismissal, bankruptcy – "Hurray, new doors have opened before you!" – adherents of religion rejoice «Positive thinking– above all!”, again confusing the need to not give up in difficult situations with self-deception in the style of “the waves are beating, but it doesn’t hurt me.” Show me at least one person whose heart is not left with the scars of a divorce? And everything that does not kill us immediately is not necessary, but it may well become our slow death, gradually turning a person into a callous, indifferent to everything – and to yourself, including – creature…

Myth five

Positive thoughts heal. Perhaps the most dangerous myth. Both pessimists and optimists agree that many diseases, especially in recent, difficult times, are caused by stress. The latter, by the way, are easier in this regard, since they rarely worry about trifles and seem to live longer. Of course, a positive attitude, hope for recovery play their own, sometimes considerable, role in the treatment process. BUT! The key words here are "in the process of treatment", since positive thoughts will never replace the treatment itself – except perhaps in the case of a miracle, but miracles – such an ephemeral concept that any sane person, in order to get rid of pneumonia, would prefer antibiotics. So now that you can "filter" the truth about positive thinking from myths, optimism – healthy, to the point – will surely make your life easier. After all, now you know for sure that to lay life's hopes, aspirations, aspirations only on the shoulders of positive thinking – this is a dead end branch for your aspirations. That any positive has its limits, beyond which… well, you know. Our portal wishes you not to cross these borders, remaining in the field of reason, and most importantly – supported by an active positive life position.