The myth of positive thinking

It turns out that our infatuation with positive thinking and our constant desire to eliminate the negative can be quite dangerous, distorting reality and leading us away from experiencing the truth of our being.

As appealing as positive thinking can be, we never want to be forcing positive thoughts or emotions onto ourselves because having a positive mindset is great but being deluded by it is not.

Positive psychology, in fact, can make us unable to relax when a negative thought actually comes up, potentially stirring feelings of failure and even depression.

Most importantly, it prevents us from questioning our own thoughts and beliefs, discouraging us from actually inquiring into their truth and from fully engaging with reality.

In this sense, positive affirmations, too, can do more harm than good. They shield us from experiencing the depth of our emotional bodies and can be used as a defense mechanism against feeling uncomfortable emotions such as fear and anxiety.

The key to our wellbeing is not wrestling with more or less positive thinking, but staying real with ourselves and learning to strike a balance between what serves us and what doesn't.

One way to do that is to cultivate a kind of 'emotional agility' by leaning into our bodies and listening deeply.

We want to bring awareness to our thoughts (whatever their nature) and repeatedly question their truth. We want to be able to identify thought patterns that potentially get us trapped or stuck by fueling fear or anxiety.

Self-inquiry is so central, here.

It doesn't matter what the thought is and what emotion it stirs, what matters is whether or not we get snagged by following it through.

What matters is becoming so receptive to shifts in thinking that thoughts no longer get to have power over us.