Good evening, all of you all over the world.
This evening I would like to talk to you about being positive. With a capital P.
It has been the mindset to have, lately. Ever since, during the seventies, someone started publishing about half full glasses and taking life with a cheery disposition, positivism has spread like an ink spot.
Taking the gloomy view is simply not done. And it isn't just in magazines and on websites for the optimistically happy few. It has spread onto the work floor of ordinary workers (like you and me).
Managers ooze positive sound bites everywhere. The 'go for it!', 'live life to the max', 'look out for number one', 'think positive thoughts out of the box and smile when doing it' generation of 35 to 45 years old team-building, boot-camping, ultra-fit positivity junkies seem to bounce through their working day high on adrenaline and positive vibes (and cans of Redbull).
And take a look on Facebook or Instagram. The happy photos and quotes there outnumber the gloomy ones. So there is a 'need' for happiness. But is this a need born, or created ?
I tend to see myself as a optimist.
I kept my diaries from when I was a young woman, and all through job loss, divorce, moving to another country, another traumatic love affair, and moving back again, the pages are filled with hope, optimism and "oh well, it didn't work out this time, but next time it surely will" type of entries.
But there is a certain stubbornness about it as well. My family tended to take the gloomy side, if they had a choice, and my instinctive immediate reaction to this was to move to the opposite side of the fence.
I would be positive if it killed me, sort of thing.
And has it worked? Has luck smiled down on me, because I am a happy hippy type?
When I add all the pros and cons, I would say...not.
Oh dear.
I have never won any substantial sum of money, for instance, even though I play in the lottery and optimistically wish myself rich every time there is a draw due. I have read The Secret, but all my sending my wishes into the universe has not paid any dividend. So far.(See, ever the optimist). I go into work with a positive mindset every day, but ever so often travel back disheartened and frustrated.
So has it made my life better? Now that's another matter! I'm not that lucky in things, but I do believe it has made my life a little better. Fast approaching sixty (holy moly!!!), people always estimate me ten years younger. Hey, that's a win, isn't it?
So, what about you?
Do you believe in all this optimism thinga-ma-bob?
And I have it easy, in my Western, safe, rich, flat (though damp) country. How hard is it to stay positive when you live in...the Congo, for instance? Would it cross your mind? Would you have the time for it?
Let me know your thoughts.
