Positive Thinking Is A Stupid Waste of Time

If you have ever been into some sort of rough times in life, you know the most common advice that comes flooding in from everywhere. Be positive or think positive. But, have you ever questioned that what does positive thinking really mean. Most of us have a general perception that it helps in dealing with the bad situations , or its generally more preferable over negative thinking, as a way of living. But, Is that so?

I think that we have a very superficial understanding of positive thinking and instead of practising it blindly, we should rather look at it more closely, because it only seems to work as an idea. I doubt it’s practical application.

What is positive or negative thinking?

First off, positive or negative thinking is just a frame of mind with which we choose to look at reality. But, why do we need to any frame of mind to look at reality. Why can’t we look at reality as it is. We really need to understand that positive thinking or negative thinking are just biases which act as filters between us and the reality. It’s a mental construct. Somebody looks at day and finds that there is one day between two nights. We call him negative. Another person looks and says there is one night between two days. We call him positive. Both are biased, both can’t see the reality as it is. They have constructed an idea of reality.

We really need to understand that life is a series of challenge and response. To deal with a challenge, a response is needed. Most of us choose to respond either positively or negatively, and, positive is generally more preferred. My question is that, in order to have a right response, do you need to look at a challenge as it is, or do you need any preconceived positive or negative bias? An unbiased perception of a challenge is needed, in order to come up with a right response.

For example, Let’s say that you want to buy a house. The challenge is that you don’t have a house and you need money to buy the house. Now, the right response would be to gather resources which would help you in buying the house. This is an unbiased response. Where is the need of positive or negative thinking in it? But, what do we do?

The moment there is a desire to buy the house, fear sets in. All kind of negative thoughts come flooding in. What if I am unable to earn the amount of money needed to buy the house. I don’t think that I can ever buy a house, or the world is really cruel, it belongs to the crooked and riches, we have no place in it. This is what negative thinking is. Nobody makes an effort to think negative. It happens. It’s a bi product of having a desire. With every desire arises the fear of its denial, and that fear is negative thinking.

Now, positive thinking is merely a philosophy to counter these negative thoughts. It’s not very different, it's just like negative thinking. Both of them have nothing to do with the reality. Both of them paint a picture of reality in your mind. Positive thinking seems to be good than the negative because it assures you of the desired outcome. But it's a false assurance, a consolation that your desires will be fulfilled. Only a fearful mind needs assurance, and all the people who have build empires on the philosophy of positive thinking are just selling false hopes or assurances.

Do you see the whole futility of it? First there is a desire, then in our imagination there is a fear of its denial. To escape that painful state our mind creates its opposite, positive thinking, and we are caught up in an endless conflict of having positive and negative thoughts. An internal battle between the thoughts is always going on, between hope and fear. Instead of responding to a challenge, our mental energy is wasted in this futile battle.

My point is that could there be a response which is neither positive, nor negative. Which means can we really drop the fear of not attaining. Can we really respond to the desire without any fear? I think we can. But it requires a very clear mind.

A mind that is caught up in perpetual conflict can’t look at the facts and deal with them. It is concerned with its own fears, its hopes, its anxieties. How can such a tortured mind deal with the facts. It can’t.

To respond to reality requires a mind that is fresh, that doesn’t have any preconceived biases or mindsets. Now if you want to buy a house, do you think that you can come up with any solution with an anxious mind, a fearful mind, a hopeful mind? Never! Solution always comes from a clear mind, an unbiased mind.

The irony is that no one is speaking about it. People only speak whatever is saleable. What is saleable? Whatever pleases the masses. No one is interested in the truth. No one is willing to find out. They simply want to go and buy a philosophy like corn flakes, so that life becomes a little easy and tolerable.They are just window shopping for the truth. In the pursuit of truth, all they get is a phoney philosophy. Drop the bullshit of positive thinking. It’s not very different from negative thinking, both are useless, both stem from fear. We don’t need positive thinking, in fact we need to get rid of it. More people should talk about its futility.

Next time if you have any negative thoughts, don’t try to stuff your mind with the positive thoughts, instead go to the very root of the problem. You’ll find that it's stemming from the possibility of non attainment of desires . Somewhere in the background of your mind, you deeply want something and with that deep want, a fear is bound to be there. Deal with that fear. Remind yourself that this fear is just a fiction, its not real. Right away, switch from the fiction to the reality. Look at the reality as it is, and out of that perception a right response will be born. It’s just a knack, the more you are going to catch yourself in the negative states, the more you'll become rooted in reality, the more clarity will be there. Out of that clarity a right response will come, which is never of fear.

I hope that you had an insight into positive thinking and you aren't going to give it the importance that it demands.