Why do people try to think positively?

I think you need therapy. or a hug. or something.

Most people don’t strive for unhappiness.

Chemically, it helps.

I think the human condition is, in large part, what you make it to be. Yes, we are all stricken with those things we cannot control, things perhaps even beyond repair. However, how you handle those things determines much of your human condition. Many, certainly not all, people choose to think positively on order to maintain an outlook that will keep them moving forward instead of sticking their heads in an oven; or crawling under the covers and living in dread. It’s a simple technique for hope.

There are some really great opinions on this subject here:
http://www.fluther.com/disc/25165/pessimism-vs-optimism/

Being a person that has suffered with depression for the majority of my life and having been on medication on and off…which evidently has not worked and has only served to make me numb to the realities of life (and cause me serious side effects) positive thinking in its essence is probably the only thing that keeps me from being down.

I’m not talking about thinking positively all the time…because that is just ridiculous and I don’t think its a natural state to try and see the positive in every situation or problem…i know people that do that and they are incredibly irritating!!

So basically when I feel like I’m getting low and bogged down with things not going right or how useless a person i am…i try to remind myself that there are “positive” things i can do to make my life happier or better..one step at a time. Someone said something on another question i read earlier today actually that resonated with me… when you are feeling bad…“think about just one thing you can do right now that will make things better” which to make is just positive thinking… not the overloaded nonsense if being a happy clappy christian type jolly person bounding around all over the place that “positive thinking” suggests….

But yes.. all action begins with thought in some form and i’d rather that be positive than negative…god knows what i might end up doing if i didn’t… eek lol

Positive thinking really isn’t supposed to make the problem better, it was a plan devised to make the person feel better if they are hysterical or very afraid. If there is a way to feel happier, I’m sure most people will use it.

You may find this of interest. http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/68043/?page=entire

Of particular relevance is the last section under the heading Unhappiness Taboo.

I read the book that this article is excerpted from to come to some greater understanding of my own depression. Bruce Levine is a counter-cultural psychiatrist who opposes the overuse of drugs in treating depression. He notes that depression is greatest in the most developed nations and is of the opinion that the true cause is overemphasis on consumerism and individualism and a turning away from community and spiritual values. I think that he makes a pretty good case for his argument.

Personally, I try to see the opportunities rather than the threats for purely selfish reasons: If I don’t believe I can accomplish/win/gain, I won’t try. If on the other hand I do think there’s a chance of getting something good out of trying, I’ll make an effort.
It’s simple motivational tactics. I won’t get anything done if I don’t see a potential gain in making an effort.

At the moment, I’m reading Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach. In it, she tells a story about how the Dalai Lama came to the US for a conference, and during a Q&A, someone asked him about how to deal with self-hatred. He had no idea what that was. Someone had to explain the concept to him. “How could anyone feel that way about themselves, when we are all of Buddha nature?”

In a way, I think he was saying that we are all worthy regardless. We are here and we are part of the whole regardless. Our culture leads us to think that we must prove ourselves, right down to our own nuclear families, and that sort of disconnection breeds depression, self-hatred and negativity. I don’t know if its positive thinking that works as much as mindfulness, knowing that our thoughts are just thoughts and not us and learning to accept our feelings so that they flow through us and move on. Believe me, I’m at the very start of learning what this means after years of resistance and fear, and the “affirmations & happy self-talk” business isn’t working. To paraphrase John Lennon, I’m just looking to give myself some truth.

One of the few things I have taken from the religion I was raised in is the notion of “Whatever one thinks about themselves, so they are.” And I think I can experience what I’m feeling mindfully, with acceptance (and not some wish-it-away-happy-happy bs) and keep going without rancor or self-loathing.

I think it has to be a balance: Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.