The Power of Negative Thinking

DesignMyself · 2012-08-05T04:18:22+00:00

The Stoics recommended “the premeditation of evils,” or deliberately visualizing the worst-case scenario. This tends to reduce anxiety about the future: when you soberly picture how badly things could go in reality, you usually conclude that you could cope. Besides, they noted, imagining that you might lose the relationships and possessions you currently enjoy increases your gratitude for having them now. Positive thinking, by contrast, always leans into the future, ignoring present pleasures.

So, it's not really about positivity or negativity. It's about acceptance.

throwaway59393 · 2012-08-05T03:32:57+00:00

I am confused. Am I supposed to think I'm happy or want to end it all?

throwaway59393 · 2012-08-05T08:35:23+00:00

As a person who practices Buddhism I have to be honest, the mindset of this article kind of confuses me.

How do you determine which thoughts are good or bad? I don't really know how to word what I'm trying to say, but I can say that I have the best luck whenever I stop thinking about doing the right or wrong thing and just accept whatever happens as it is. I accept my surroundings, live in the present moment, put in my contribution of words and actions and enjoy; no expectations of being liked, numbers, kisses, f-closes, etc. It's not a matter of being optimistic or pessimistic I don't think. It's a matter of just being in the moment. It's very powerful when it happens me, but I can't always do it (I'm no monk, lol). But when I do reach that state I feel like I finally get some secret I've been missing out on for years.

I'm not trying to get religious or convert anyone, but the article talked about Buddhism in relation to this so I thought I'd share my take on it. Everyone has a different reality, though. It just seems like instead of saying positive or negative, it would be more accurate to say, "productive or counterproductive to creating feelings of happiness."

officer_wobbles · 2012-08-05T08:38:58+00:00

Love this article. Thank you for sharing.

cloud_hand · 2012-08-05T08:44:24+00:00

This is a very enlightening article, considering I was expecting it to be another opinion bash.

But I think the point of firewalking is to show how powerful you are, not to practice "positive thinking". Tony is all about using the technology of your brain to overcome, as a more correct gross simplification.

/rant

Love this thread~

FutureIsMine · 2012-08-05T17:22:04+00:00

The take away lesson here is that there are extremes of positive thinking which can make it too much of a good thing.

Title	The Power of Negative Thinking
Author	ThrowawayPUA
Upvotes	28
Comments	12
Date	August 4, 2012 11:44 PM UTC (14 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/seduction
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/seduction/comments/xowur/the_power_of_negative_thinking/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/seduction/the-power-of-negative-thinking.1293030 https://theredarchive.com/post/1293030

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