I\u2019m a believer in the power of positive thinking, I know I feel better and my life seems better when I look on the bright side of things, but what I don\u2019t understand is what are you supposed to do when something really upsetting happens and you\u2019re, well, upset?\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t feel right to try to force myself to be positive and look at the bright side in that moment, and honestly sometimes I physically can\u2019t!\u00a0 Yet what I continuously hear from others is \u201cthink positively\u201d, \u201cexpect things to work out\u201d, and that only irritates me further.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong, I want to believe in this line of thinking, law of attraction and all of that, I just don\u2019t think I fully understand it.\u00a0 Can you clarify?<\/i><\/p>\n
Marion, Chicago<\/i>\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
Hi Marion,<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t help but giggle a little upon reading your words, not because I\u2019m laughing at you but because I so know what you\u2019re talking about, and what it feels like when you encounter someone who is trying to talk you out of the way you are currently feeling.\u00a0 You\u2019re right, it kind of just makes you want to slap them upside the head!\u00a0 (Figure of speech, of course, meant lightly.)<\/p>\n
There is something that you may not currently understand about this whole positive thought thing, the understanding of which could change everything.\u00a0 I love that you noticed that \u201cit doesn\u2019t feel right to try to force myself to be positive\u201d, because that feeling <\/i>is informing you of something right there \u2013 that it\u2019s not yet time to move on from what you\u2019re feeling.\u00a0 Okay, without getting too wordy I will try to clarify.\u00a0 Our feelings and emotions are some of our greatest tools, and CWG says \u201cfeelings are the language of the soul.\u201d\u00a0 That is, your soul communicates with you through your feelings, so to try to condemn what you are feeling, no matter what it is, and force it away is denying yourself communication from YOU, communication that could be very helpful to what you\u2019re currently experiencing in life.\u00a0 Not to mention it\u2019s impossible because \u201cwhat you resist persists\u201d, and if you attempt to push those feelings away, you can bet your bottom that they will just keep coming back.\u00a0 So it\u2019s always in your best interest to acknowledge and validate what you\u2019re feeling, and look to see what it\u2019s pointing to.\u00a0 Are you sad?\u00a0 What does that tell you about what you want?\u00a0 Does something feel \u201coff\u201d?\u00a0 What needs to be adjusted to feel \u201con\u201d again?<\/p>\n
Regarding the law of attraction and positive thought movement, the piece that many miss is that it\u2019s not wrong or bad to feel down, negative, upset, etc.; accept that that is going to happen in life.\u00a0 Even the greatest of masters and enlightened ones out there feel those \u201cnegative\u201d emotions still, but the difference is they also recognize they are gifts, tools, and use them for the purpose in which they were intended.\u00a0 They allow themselves to feel what they are feeling, and decide what it means.\u00a0 But they don\u2019t stay there.\u00a0 That\u2019s perhaps the most important part: feel what you\u2019re feeling, but don\u2019t stay there, be willing to \u201cmove up\u201d the emotional scale as soon as you\u2019ve gotten what you need.\u00a0 If you wallow in your despair, sadness, anger, frustration, etc., the process of creation\/law of attraction will bring you more of that.\u00a0 But if you give it meaning, and choose your next highest thought, word or deed, you will vibrate at a higher level and the process of creation\/law of attraction will bring you more of that.\u00a0 <\/i>A much better route if you ask me.<\/p>\n
So, Marion, strive to give yourself permission to feel however you feel without judgment.\u00a0 Then, take a deeper look at those feelings, and ask yourself, or your soul, what they are showing you about you, your life, and what you want.\u00a0 It is very helpful to sit down and journal about this, even write out a dialogue with your soul.\u00a0 Some of the answers may even surprise you.\u00a0 Positive thinking, focusing on gratitude and the \u201cgood stuff\u201d, is an incredibly wonderful practice to adopt, but you will find the most success with it if you factor in all of the above as well.\u00a0 Besides, we are all of it, the good and the bad, the positive and the negative\u2026we are wonderfully and beautifully human.<\/p>\n
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