Thread: How negative should our thoughts be?

The human brain is made to think rather negatively. Otherwise we wouldn't have advanced this far.

When you do something well, you feel good for about an hour or so, sometimes a bit longer, then you go back to baseline. This is so you will do well again, to feel good again.

If you look at things negatively and that's it. That's not very good.
However if you look at the bad side of things, and think about how you can improve it.... well, you are taking advantage of our propensity for negativity. Which is exactly why we have developed to be that way.

I can also guarantee that almost all of the people you perceive as "positive all the time" are negative when they are by themselves. There's a very VERY small amount of people who are just constantly and unfailingly happy and positive.

The trick is only to not be negative all the time. Because you should enjoy your life.

Originally Posted by tommo

The human brain is made to think rather negatively. Otherwise we wouldn't have advanced this far.

When you do something well, you feel good for about an hour or so, sometimes a bit longer, then you go back to baseline. This is so you will do well again, to feel good again.

If you look at things negatively and that's it. That's not very good.
However if you look at the bad side of things, and think about how you can improve it.... well, you are taking advantage of our propensity for negativity. Which is exactly why we have developed to be that way.

I can also guarantee that almost all of the people you perceive as "positive all the time" are negative when they are by themselves. There's a very VERY small amount of people who are just constantly and unfailingly happy and positive.

The trick is only to not be negative all the time. Because you should enjoy your life.

do you think that processes like meditation help calming the mind and putting this into perspective, hence increasing positive attitudes?

Yes!
Definitely. I always tend to start meditating every day and then stop and start again all the time. But I just did some meditation today and it helped me incredibly.

Too much negative thinking can make you anxious as well, so it helps with that.
But mostly, since meditation is basically - shutting up (stopping internal chatter) - you don't think negatively or positively about things, you just experience the world, as close as possible right now to reality. Which tends to make you a bit more positive than usual.

Originally Posted by Surukien

do you think that processes like meditation help calming the mind and putting this into perspective, hence increasing positive attitudes?

Yes, you become what you think about. Too much mental clutter leads to anxiousness, anytime we can calm that down and just exist will put anyone in a positive mind frame.

It is also important to monitor your thoughts when not meditating. take control of what you allow yourself to think about, because whatever you think about will physically manifest itself in your life. Again, you become what you think about.

There's really no point to have a negative mindset. You shouldn't be negative at all. You don't have to be happy, but have a mindset other than being negative. Whatever mindset you choose, you become emotionally. So why would you want to become a negative person? There are better mindsets to have. Also, no matter what mindset you have, reality's still going to be the same reality; it's just that your perspective warps reality, and your perspective is all that matters, because your perspective is what life is through your own eyes. So might as well have a perspective that's in line with your interests. Just my two cents.