For many years through some of my many readings and through different trainings, I thought I could be optimistic and enthusiastic at all times. But finally I realized that that was just humanly not possible.
This unrealistic demand for unrelenting positivity is, I believe, one of the downfalls of the positive thinking movement. People think they should be positive all the time and they don’t like themselves or others when they are negative. And this demand on reality can create lots of stress.
As human beings we are here to live every spectrum of all emotions and experience our life through these different expressions. If we can master our self-knowledge and have the emotional wisdom to understand what each emotion shows us, we can neutralize ourselves and come back to our center/heart and be accepting of the given situation without any lopsided perception and be able to observe what is as is and make a better decision from this neutrality.
There are negative feelings in each of us, and they can be clues for what needs attentions; so-called negative responses only become limiting when we are stuck with them and do not use them as a guide for making a change in thoughts or a change in actions.
As you embrace all that you are and all that is you, you center yourself and give yourself the freedom to choosehow to respond at each moment.
I practice this approach every day, and I find it makes a big difference for me.
