Random Facts About Positive Thinking.
I don’t know anyone who spends more time and effort on maintaining a positive attitude than myself. I’m not patting myself on the back, but just stating a fact. And it’s not out of any virtue that I must exert so much effort on a how to be happy, it is purely out of necessity. In the past, I lived many days of my life in emotional, psychological and spiritual pain. I am fortunate enough to have survived those years where I was my own worst enemy. The only reason I am able to enjoy my life today is because I finally understood that my thoughts were killing me and took action to change them.
Sometimes, I wish I could be like other people and merely “just be happy.”
But I am not like other people. I am not a naturally happy person… I mean… I do believe that I was born happy but I grew up in a violent and dysfunctional household and therefore negativity became my knee-jerk reaction to life. I am not saying that to point fingers or to get sympathy although I did that for many years. For years, I used my dysfunctional childhood as a crutch that I beat everyone over the head with when they challenged my negativity or bad behavior. I also used it as an excuse to not do anything about my life. I felt powerless. On the ship of happiness I wasn’t a member of the crew, or even a passenger, but merely dead weight in the hold.
Understanding that negativity is a habit that diminished the quality of my life finally gave me the freedom to do something about it – but there is work to be done.
Just like a diabetic must monitor their diet and take insulin, I must monitor my thoughts and behavior. A diabetic might curse their fate, wishing that they didn’t have to be so vigilant. But as long as they continue to maintain their life saving routine, they will continue to feel the healthy benefits.
This is the same for people like me who are prone to negativity and depression. Vigilance is required. If I don’t actively work on it, my thoughts will kill me. I’ve been there! I have had days tormented by thoughts of suicide where I believed that life was a cruel joke on me. It’s been that bad.
Life doesn’t have to be that way.
The Bhagavad-Gita states, “For one who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends, but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will be the greatest enemy.” The fact that Bhagavad-Gita has been estimated to have been written somewhere between the 5th and 2nd century BCE is further confirmation that the human race has been plagued by sufferings of the mind since we crawled out of the primordial ooze.
We will never progress further than the thoughts that dominate our minds.
It’s important to remember that your mind is like a fertile patch of land where you can choose what to plant. You can choose to sow positive thoughts or negative thoughts. If the negative thoughts come, throw them away and don’t plant them in the ground! This gets easier over time.
You can also choose what you read, watch on television or what kind of music you listen to. I remember one time when the realization of that hit me. I was watching a DVD that I bought of a movie called “Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer.” In the middle of one of the scenes where Henry and his friend were murdering a family, I distinctly remember a sick feeling in my stomach and thinking that I didn’t want to entertain myself by watching human beings suffer. I took the DVD out of the player and threw it out. I didn’t want the energy of that kind of suffering in my house – even if it was just a depiction.
It’s important to remember that you don’t achieve happiness by focusing on unhappy things. Yes, it is work but keep it up and give yourself the gift of enjoying your life today.
KUTGW,
