Is it possible to stay positive in a negative world? Can one maintain a good attitude when things don’t as one wants them to go?
The answer is, “Yes.” Doing so may not always be easy, but it is possible.
In order to stay positive, it helps for one to deal with the eternal and the internal in ways that aren’t defeating.
Let’s start with the external.
The expression “Garbage in, garbage out” is applicable here. What one takes in is going to influence how one responds to life.
For example, if all that one reads and hears is negative news, then one is more likely to have a negative view of life in general.
If, in contrast, one feeds one’s self with positive stories and messages, then one is more likely to have a brighter outlook.
In early January 2019, I published a blog post that contains nothing but hyperlinks to news reports with positive outcomes. I did so because people need breaks from negativity.
People fair better when they learn that someone has righted wrongs and relieved suffering.
Now for the internal.
One’s attitude is shaped by the source of one’s self-validation. The wrong source will cause one to experience all sorts of anguish.
For example, some people seek self-validation by living vicariously through ancestors and descendants.
“My ancestors were great. Therefore I am great.”
“My descendant is great. Therefore I am great.”
So, what happens when one’s ancestors or one’s descendant does something despicable?
Answer: One enters a state of denial about what one’s ancestors or descendant did.
It is bad enough when such a phenomenon takes place on an individual basis. It is worse when it takes place en masse. The latter can result in generations of people pursuing self-validation through a false view of history.
Eventually, reality will intrude, and one will look foolish at best.
Another wrong source of self-validation is one’s socioeconomic status.
“My self-worth comes from my popularity.”
“My self-worth comes from me being in the public spotlight.”
“My self-worth comes from my occupational/financial/academic/political success.”
“My self-worth comes through my marriage/spouse/children.”
Seeking self-validation through socioeconomic status can lead a person to create a façade, and maintaining the façade comes with all sorts of stress.
Ask yourself this question: Whom do you have to please or impress in order to have a positive self-validation?
If you are trying to please or impress people you don’t have to, then you will make it more difficult for you to maintain a positive attitude when circumstances work against you.
Even if one isn’t trying to please or impress the wrong people, one can still err by pursuing certain things with the belief that those things will provide one’s self with joyful living. A lack of those things can result on one having a negative attitude.
“If I had __________, then I would be happy.”
Happiness is based on external things that can be taken away.
Joy is based on internal things that can’t be taken away.
If one wants to stay positive in a negative world, then it is far better to have joy than temporal happiness.
The “Wanted” posters say the following about David: “Wanted: A refugee from planet Melmac masquerading as a human. Loves cats. If seen, contact the Alien Task Force.”