“Don’t be so negative!” I was in a waiting room when I heard a man say this to the woman sitting next to him in response to her pointing out that something he was planning to do might not be very realistic. As I listened to the exchange, I began to wonder how our society reached a point where honestly pointing out the potential pitfalls of a plan is labeled as “being negative” rather than being realistic. When did negativity become something to avoid at all costs rather than something that can serve a useful purpose? How did positive thinking become such a deeply ingrained expectation in our culture?
The more I reflected on this, the more I began to see how much of what damages our world actually originates with people who consider themselves “positive.” It is not enough to take only one measure - that of being positive. We also need to ask an important follow-up question: positive about what? Someone may be extremely positive about a project that harms the environment but makes them personally wealthy. Their attitude may be positive, but the impact of their actions can be deeply negative for society as a whole.
Our culture often places overwhelming emphasis on positivity alone. However, when we look more closely at how reality works, we can see that positive is naturally accompanied by negative. According to the principles of universal law, positive and negative are complementary forces. As human beings, we possess the remarkable ability to say yes to something and move it forward—that is the positive force. But we also have the equally important ability to say no, to deny or refuse something—that is the negative force. Through these two powers, we can open or close our mentality, mind, and emotions to incoming ideas, actions, and experiences. Insisting on always being positive is like saying you will walk on only your right foot, but never your left.
On our journey through life, we need both the power to affirm and the power to deny. It is often forgotten that when the Law of Attraction became popular in the Western world at the beginning of the twentieth century, it was originally discussed alongside its counterpart: the Law of Repulsion. One cannot exist without the other accompanying it. A pharmacist once explained this principle to me in practical terms. In pharmaceutical research, scientists know that every drug produces side effects. As he put it, for every clockwise action there is an anticlockwise reaction moving in the opposite direction. The question is never whether side effects exist; it is always: what are they?
Rather than attaching ourselves rigidly to either positivity or negativity, I recommend putting yourself in the driver’s seat of your life, as a driver guiding a wagon pulled by two horses. One horse is called positive, and the other is called negative. Both are crucial to navigating a successful journey through life.
Your willpower is only as strong as your “won’t power.” If we say yes too easily, we become a weak-willed “yes person.” If we habitually say no without thoughtful consideration, we become a closed-off “no person,” resistant to new ideas and experiences. However, when we occupy the driver’s seat—a third or neutral position—we gain the ability to guide the forces of yes and no wisely. Saying yes opens our mentality, mind, and emotions to new energies and experiences. Saying no closes the gates of our mentality, blocking influences that may not serve us—whether they are ideas, people, or opportunities.
Once we have determined our purpose or direction in life, we can train our powers of positive and negative accordingly. Being positive is the power we call upon to pursue our purpose. Being negative is the power we use to repel what would distract or divert us from it. In this way, both the positive and the negative are essential to having a successful life journey. Just as there are schools of positive thinking, we may also need a school of negative thinking. In other words, we need to develop both our will and our won’t equally well so that, as the driver of our life, we can use both the Law of Attraction and the Law of Repulsion to our best advantage. Positivity has its rightful place in our life—but so does negativity. So, when something unrealistic or misaligned with your purpose is suggested, it may be perfectly appropriate to say no.
Your positivity will thank you for it!
Warmly,
David & Joanna
Contact David here-[email protected]
www.energyworlds.com
