I woke up this morning in a state of negativity. Knowing this was not conducive to anything but unhappiness, I wanted to transcend it, quickly. But how?
A man who focuses on his weaknesses is prone to stay weak. A man who focuses on his negative mental attitude, even if he wishes to rid himself of it, will stay stuck in it. This is the principle of like attracts like.
I see this principle play out in the world everyday. The war on terror breeds more terrorism. The war on drugs breeds more drugs. On and on it goes. So what is the solution? Definitely not a war on negativity.
If like attracts like, then my job was to focus on the positive. Was there anything to be happy about? Was there any good? Was there any strength, power, love, light, wisdom, harmony or beauty to find?
Our mental attitudes are governed by the thoughts we entertain. Limiting thoughts create limited actions that yield limited results. There is no way around it. On the other hand, unlimited thoughts create unlimited actions that yield unlimited results.
But it’s not easy. It’s obvious that the wise course of action in a situation like that is to focus on the positive, but the negative energy creates such a distortion in perception that it becomes a real challenge.
The first positive thought I had was that it was an opportunity, an opportunity to strengthen the power of my mind, sort of like putting myself through a painful exercise regimen so that I could feel healthy. That was the beginning. It was a little bit of movement — the planting of a seed of positive thought.
And then came another positive thought: To appreciate light, one has to have an experience of darkness. And if that was the case, then this experience of darkness had a higher purpose.
Perhaps experiences of darkness happen to everyone just so they can appreciate light. To get a clearer understanding of what I mean, let somebody hold your head under water for 45 seconds. No doubt you will gain an appreciation for air, something that is so abundant that you normally take it for granted.
An experience of negativity can be instructive in that it shows how powerful our thoughts are, how they shape our outlook on life and the possibilities we entertain, how they can limit or broaden our horizons. Thoughts generate our actions; they inspire us, and ignite the imagination to see things we haven’t seen before.
When we are immersed in negativity, it’s as if we’re in prison. The vibratory rate of negative thoughts can be so low that one could become as helpless as a bird with its wings cut off. The vibratory rates of the highest thoughts, however, have the power to liberate us into higher realms of being and inspiration.
The thoughts are as important to our well being as the food we eat. They are a source of freedom, love, expansion, harmony, joy and inspiration. They allow us to become so happy that we want to share the experience with others. It awakens love in our hearts. We become compassionate. We experience oneness with others.
Positive thoughts lead to freedom. Negative thoughts lead to bondage. Ironically, the prison inmate with positive thoughts has more freedom than the free man with negative thoughts. The man in prison with positive thoughts has the freedom to experience happiness. He realizes that he is more than his locked up body, that he is spirit, infinite in self-expression, and with a capacity to inspire others.
Years ago when my wife Maggie and I co-lead a therapy group, one of our clients came to us through the court system, on bail, awaiting trial for assault. This was an unusual client in that it was he who called the police after he committed his crime. He wanted to take responsibility for what he had done. He knew he was facing jail time but he had a positive attitude. In one of our sessions, so positive was his attitude, that he said he felt like he was holding four aces (an almost unbeatable hand in poker). After he went to prison, I bought a deck of cards, took out the four aces, and mailed them to him so he could remember his positive frame of mind from the group. I think his story applies to everybody, for we all hold four aces when we have the proper thoughts, no matter how bleak life appears on the horizon.
When it grips you, negativity can be convincing that there is nothing to be happy about. We lose all perspective. It’s no different than a whining baby who demands your attention. If you can detach yourself from the emotions and observe it objectively then you are introducing consciousness into the scene. Then when it raises its head, you can embrace it and give it some light. Reassure it that it is safe, that there is nothing to be afraid of.
The bottom line is that negativity stems from unconsciousness. Therefore the remedy is its opposite. We all have some aspects of unconsciousness until we reach the final goal, which is the reason the universe came into existence. That goal is self-realization — the finite becoming infinite — the drop becoming the Ocean.
But there is a part of us all, a dark secret part, that doesn’t want to see the light of day, that doesn’t want to surrender its separate existence for the experience of infinite oneness.
Embrace it. Don’t do battle with it. Don’t go to war. Just give it a loving hug.
Darkness cannot exist in light. It has no existence except in the absence of light. In the embrace of light, it becomes light.
Such were my thoughts this morning. When I put them in writing, into this context of consciousness and light, all the negativity disappeared.
You might want to refer back to this if you ever have a rainy day when it seems easier to be negative than positive.
