Why and How Does Genuine, Real Positivity Build Things and Empower?
Because genuine positivity is a creative force that will build things and empower us.
Positivity is not a permanent state of being.
That’s because, realistically, there is no single state of being for anyone. That’s just the way it works. We all go through various states of being depending on any number of circumstances both in and out of our control.
Toxic positivity tends to postulate that always being positive in mind, body, and spirit is the end-all-be-all. But that’s simply not true and totally unrealistic.
All of us live in this world of extremes. But the key there is IN the world of extremes – not AT the extremes. Sure, sometimes we reach an extreme on one end of the cylinder or the other. But for the most part – we exist between all given extremes.
And by extremes, I mean the likes of up and down, black and white, good and evil, dark and light, big and small, and of course positive and negative. These are extremes we tend to refer to as opposite sides of a coin. But in truth, it’s not the thin edge of a coin between these extremes – it’s a cylinder.
What’s more – it’s a flexible cylinder. It’s colored by each of us and our values, beliefs, biases, prejudices, experiences, and all else that makes us different and unique.
And then – we get to choose where on the cylinder to place ourselves, and/or what direction (and the related extreme) to face. If we choose at all – which many do not consciously do.
If the extremes are not where we exist – why do they matter? Because they will determine what our experiences might be – and if they build or destroy us and the world around us.
Here’s my problem with many politicians and businesses
Two of the most negative and destructive forces in the world today are found in politics and businesses.
When it comes to politics, many only interfere, destroy, tear apart, sunder, and emphasize ruining the “other side” and what they represent. Then, when such politicians get control, we regress and/or nothing much of use gets done.
A perfect example – Republicans in the United States keep going after the less-than-perfect but better than nothing Affordable Care Act. Yet they only seek to destroy it – and never offer anything better. They don’t build a better plan or act – all they care to do is destroy. And negativity is their favorite tool.
Similarly, look at the many ludicrously profitable businesses that only pay their executives and shareholders well. They appear to build – money – but then what? They often destroy the environment, keep their labor pool hovering in poverty or give them very little in return, and they support others similarly bent on destruction in pursuit of even more money. Like politicians, negativity is their favorite tool.
How is negativity their favorite tool?
They create artificial lack, scarcity, and insufficiency to drive fear. That fear disempowers – and keeps them “empowered”, albeit falsely. They spin tales about “the other” who will take what is “rightfully” yours, be it your job, home, community, or sense of self.
They knock it all down and destroy it for their very personal and selfish gain. Gain that they could share and spread if they refocused on positivity and empowerment instead.
But that requires a fairly major shift in individual personalities beyond anyone’s control but those who are doing these destructive things. We can only change ourselves – but that’s plenty powerful stuff.
The world is on fire – and it’s also not really on fire
Right now, spend any time on social media, watching the news, or just paying attention to the world without, it looks like it’s all on fire.
Examples of this include Putin’s inane and destructive war against Ukraine, world economic woes teetering between inflation and recession, and a backasswards minority making terrible laws for the majority in the United States.
Spend any time on these things and you might feel bad, seethe in negativity, and even start to lose hope. Why are there so many forces that appear hell-bent to expound upon negativity and destroy rather than use positivity to build things and empower?
Is it easier to destroy? No, just quicker. It might take hours to build an exquisite sandcastle – and seconds to knock it down. Our modern society is utterly obsessed with quicker, easier, and instant gratification. Because we don’t consider consequences and future impact, we ignore long-term issues.
The resources on this planet are many and abundant – but you can’t poison the air, water, and soil and then wonder why you aren’t making money anymore (answer – the dead don’t and can’t pay for things). Mindfulness and conscious awareness matter for this big-picture reason, in addition to what mindfulness and conscious awareness means for you and me.
The reality is that while the world is on fire – it’s not really on fire. I believe this is how it’s always been. But it appears to be constantly on fire due to three things: the 24-hour instantaneous new cycle, the internet, and our fear-based society.
The interplay of these is why it looks and feels like the world is on fire. But for most of us – it’s maybe smoldering at worst.
This means we have choices to make.
Employing real positivity to build things and empower
Let’s face one very important fact: there is little to nothing you and I can do about or with the big picture issues of our world.
But our individual, one-of-a-kind realities, however, are under our control.
Every day we get to choose where on the cylinder between given extremes to place ourselves, and which direction to face. Be good or bad? Do right or wrong? Feel positivity or negativity?
This is not a set-once-and-done matter. Ever. It’s constantly, frequently changing. But that doesn’t mean it needs to be utterly random and outside of our control. Because we are capable of conscious awareness and using mindfulness therein to choose how to be, what to do, who, where, why, and all else that we are.
In my experience, whenever I am using real positivity, I find it much easier to build things and empower myself in that way.
Some days this is hard. On some days it starts easily – but then crashes down. But no matter the circumstances, I get to choose who, what, where, how, and why I am. Not that it’s always easy – often it’s not. But the choice is always mine to be made.
Why and how does genuine, real positivity build things and empower? Because genuine positivity is a creative force that will build things and empower us – when we choose it. We get to decide to face it, work with it, and let it into our heart, mind, and soul.
We’ve built amazing things before. And this is how it always begins.
Employing genuine positivity to build things and empower isn’t hard
It’s all about working with mindfulness of our thoughts, feelings, and intentions to direct our actions.
When we work to be mindful, we choose all that we are and can be, and whether to be destructive or constructive with all that we do. Knowing that we can make choices and decisions to be mindful, we can use this to look to genuine positivity to build things to change the world – beginning with our personal, individual corner of it – for the better.
This empowers us – and in turn, our empowerment can empower others around us. That can expand to change the bigger picture matters.
Choosing for ourselves generally leans positively.
Taking an approach to positivity and negativity – from the vast cylinder that exists between them – shifts matters in a way to open more dialogue. In that form, we can explore and share where we are between the extremes and how that impacts us here and now.
Lastly, I believe the better aware we are of ourselves in the now, the more we can do to choose and decide how our life experiences will be. When that empowers us, it can also open those around us to their own empowerment. And that is, to me, a worthwhile endeavor to explore and share.
Thank you for coming along on this ride with me.
This is the four hundred and forty-second entry of my Positivity series. I hope that these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone. Feel free to share, re-blog, and spread the positivity.
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