The problem with 'positive thinking'. #shorts

Illusionist Derren Brown believes that the centuries old philosophy of Stoicism may hold the key to a kind of happiness that is more grounded in reality.

[avonsternen]

"Serenity Prayer"
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change....
The courage to change the things I can...
And the Wisdom to know the difference." 👍💗:)

[IONov]

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference

[BugsandMammot]

Many of us still rely on positive thinking without knowing exactly what they feel and needs without noticing that our decision are composed on anxiety, guilt, fear and self sabotaging in short, we made that decision based on other people's needs not on our own deeply needs

[RoninYeti]

Change has never come from complicity and complacency...

[raicyceprine]

As someone who had been a positive thinker since i was a child to late teen years. I believe in what he said.


Positive people like me always hope for the better even to the extent of getting abuse or has been taken advantaged of our kindness.
I used to view negative emotions such as anger, sadness, and frustration to be "wrong" and "immoral" therefore I shouldn't feel any of those emotions but that was the worst mindset I had in my life.

I realized that letting go and showing your emotions, even the negatives ones, are healthy and will help you control yourself better whenever you feel these emotions again cause in reality you'll never avoid these and you just need to embrace it.

Lastly, I thought that not quitting is a completely positive trait which is true in lots of cases but I never even consider the term "burn out" which happens a lot if you don't give yourself a day of rest and entertainment. Remember, it's ok to quit and know your limitations. It does not make you less of a person

[howardmueller]

“All you can control are your thoughts and actions.” I really needed to hear that. Thanks, brother! 💯

[johnnyearp]

All you can control are your thoughts and your actions. I agree.
But everything is not fine.
That's lying to yourself.

[niconine]

Thankyou for staying this publicly. That positive thinking BS gives me the shits.

[muneebkhan]

Positive thinking in my opinion is SIMPLY not giving up even after being surrounded by negativity...

[Istandby]

This reminds me of the song Que Sera Sera, what ever will be, will be. The future's not ours to see, Que Sera Sera.
Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is not guaranteed. All you have is today.

[Tito_Bellicus]

I see people living on streets, animals being terribly mistreated but I don´t wanna be bothered about that. Everything "outside of me" is perfectely fine! So I won´t help anyone or try to change a thing.

[toxigen]

I think the American positive thinking serves as a political tool, not an personal one and it's working great for the ruling class

[clwho]

The problems with positive thinking: 1. It doesn't change shit, no matter how positive your thoughts are it will not make anything any better nor will it take away the pain in ones life. 2. When bad things happen the difference between the positive thoughts and reality only creates disappointment which makes the pain of it all worse. The solution: live in reality. You can't changes the bad things in your life and the world if you live in the delusional fantasy would those happy thoughts create. Change first requires the acceptance that something is wrong.

[FLOATERSEL]

Happiness is not pleasure, it’s peace.

We can’t stop the waves, but we can learn how to surf.

There’s a difference between toxic positivity and optimistic tragedy.

God bless you all.

[ravenragnar]

While positive thinking can have benefits in terms of promoting optimism and resilience, the potential problem lies in its tendency to
oversimplify complex situations and disregard genuine concerns or challenges. Relying solely on positive thinking without acknowledging
and addressing underlying issues can lead to avoidance of necessary actions or the dismissal of valid emotions. It is important to strike a balance by embracing a realistic and balanced perspective that acknowledges both positive and negative aspects of a situation while actively working towards solutions.

[nidurnevets]

When I am trying to solve a difficult problem in my life I use what might be called "positive thinking" Sometimes I think of Apollo 13, the famous "Houston, we've had a problem" flight as a role model When they were facing one life threatening problem after another, the mission controller suddenly advised his team to slow down a moment and think through what is going well on the space craft. In other words, what could they build on to find a way to bring the astronauts home safely. My problems are no where near what they faced, but I use what I know of their experience as a reminder not to try not to sink into despair when facing a difficult problem. but to work methodically to try to solve it. It doesn't mean I always succeed. And, some problems have no solution.

[williamjenkins]

Of course the "This is fine" dog meme shows the problem with stoicism. When the external situation is that your house is on fire that is obviously not fine and you should do something about it. In fact you should do something about it before it catches on fire. Hence proactive positive thinking.

[samgraham]

There's a mental health guru (speaker) in America I heard a clip of one time and they would just keep saying, just be happy! It's that easy, just be happy. You attract good vibes and energy when your happy and if you're unhappy all the bad things will seek you out and make terrible things happen. So just be happy that's all you have to do. 😐

[Nullfighter]

In my experience, I can not control every thought I have. But I can control which thoughts I believe, which I accept, which I will challenge, and which I will ignore or otherwise not give any credence to.

[rsavage]

The worse thing about positive thinking is we’re always disappointed.