WHENEVER people are faced with a dilemma, I would often hear some of them say, "think positive" and I have to admit that I have a problem with that. For one thing, I do not even know what the term "think positive" actually means. It is a bit too abstract for me. It's like, what am I even supposed to do that might qualify that I am thinking positively, besides looking like a fool,
smiling silly and looking cool?
Then I came across a reading by Simon Sinek again. He had said that instead of adapting a positive outlook, what we should actually be doing nowadays is being optimistic.
Being an optimist, as compared to being a positive thinker is not actually the same thing. For one, staying positive is likened to looking at the world and choosing to only recognize the good and then refusing to acknowledge the bad. If one looked closely, how does one keep up at staying positive when the world is filled with so many negative things these days? Meanwhile, he says that to be optimistic is so much like being inside a dark tunnel where you are seeing a light at the far end. Here, your focus is not necessarily on the tunnel itself, but on the light ahead.
In other words, while positivity prefers to only see the good, optimism is more holistic. It does not deny the current predicament or problem. In fact, it believes that if we keep on moving forward, we will eventually hit the light. In the same, optimism allows darkness and reality to exist, along with having good days and bad days.
Compared to positivity, it accepts the presence of setbacks in our life, and not sweeps it under the rug. Sinek says that if we say 'be positive', it means disallowing or not acknowledging setbacks in our reality. To compare, being an optimist means accepting the nitty gritty of any problem and aiming to surpass it. Later, as we slowly inch at a solution, the step-by-step processes that we painstakingly construct become the end results of this.
I am reminded of someone who always reacted whenever I griped about the mega negas, saying that I should only think positive thoughts, as these will attract positive vibes. I hope this is a different thing altogether. Bad vibes or not, bad things or negas exist mind you, and especially these days, they are real. Now, I Sinek-ly hope that I meet that person soon .
