Artless 10 - Positive thinking isn't always a positive  

OpinionOpinion

On embracing the darkness

We deal with downtime in different ways. Sometimes we rage against it and hold ourselves guilty for not being productive and force positivity upon ourselves. Sometimes we are paralysed by it. In pretty much every case, we think of it as a bad thing - something to be avoided, something to be done away with.

But despite all the emphasis on positive thinking in our culture, the fact remains that we were not meant to be deliriously happy all the time. As an atheist, I am reminded of heavenly visions of unending joy that more than one religion foists upon us. It's just weird.

Dissatisfaction plays an important part in motivating us to work and even to survive. Happiness often builds a status quo. While this status quo might be a welcome reprieve from loss and unhappiness, over time, it metastasizes into a prison of sorts.

And then there is grief. The kind of sadness no amount of positive thinking can save you from. It has to be gone through. It has to be suffered. To treat it as just downtime is to treat yourself as not a human being. Loss of a loved one is supposed to change you. Sometimes this change is for the worse and sometimes for the better. But this change is inevitable. Fighting the change that profound personal loss brings can destroy what remains of you.

Vimoh  

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