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LightHearted Musings - Keep Your Thoughts Positive…
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on August 3rd, 2008
Keep your thoughts positive because they become your words
Keep your words positive because they become your behaviors
Keep your habits positive because they become your values
Keep your values positive because they become your destiny.
–Mahatma Gandi
When I read this quote, I had mixed emotions. On one side, I can practically taste the optimism and truth in Gandhi’s words, and my own natural optimism gets a little juicy infusion of positive intention. This is how I have lived much of my life. It has helped me to feel good about the life I have lived so far, and it has helped steer me in the direction that does feel like my destiny.
On the other side, though, I wonder if this is too simplistic, if it misses a piece of the rich tapestry of life that gives texture to our existence. That piece is found when we explore our shadow aspects, those parts of our psyche that we keep hidden both from ourselves and from others. If we are living only in the land of the positive, we may not be willing to go down there and explore around, and we may therefore miss out on finding those jewels hidden in the shadows.
These shadows may be our fears, our traumas, or our inadequacies, but they could just as easily be our brilliance, our love, or our passion. The shadow is anything that needed to go underground within you so that you could survive your childhood or adult life. What is hidden in your shadow is often your brightest light, and it sometimes takes some scrounging around in the muck to find it. Releasing that light can be an incredibly freeing and joyful experience.
When the shadow is a trauma or fear, then keeping something this big down in the shadows takes a lot of psychic energy that could be better used to bring you more joy and vitality. Bringing it forward releases that energy and gives you a chance to heal that wound and finally let it go.
There is great value in making your life an open book to yourself. When there are shadow aspects that are not being dealt with, then these shadows will start to trip you up in ways that you won’t understand or anticipate. Focusing on both the shadow and the light therefore makes it even more possible to live by Mahatma Gandhi’s words. When you deal with your own complexity and harmonize your inner world, these words of outer action will then become simple again. We wish you well in living your own positive destiny.
Dr. Molly
Molly,
Thank you for addressing this point. As so much attention is placed on being positive and the secret of positive thinking, I think that the pendulum may have swung too far. I feel from many people that I interact with, that have embraced the idea of “keeping your thoughts positive”, that any attention to the shadow side is seen as a weakness (maybe a flaw of someone that is not as far along on the spiritual path).
I agree that this may be too simple of an approach to such a complex life. I have spent a lot of time and energy lately exploring my shadow side, exploring an issue that was so deeply and well hidden I didn’t think it would emerge again in this life time. It was hard, intense work. But now, coming out of the shadow, I do feel lighter, brighter, complex, and complete.
Having worked with Dr. Molly, I know she lives life with a “natural optimism” and I often do as well. But, I agree, that really getting in and digging around in the muck once in a while (and then getting out) can help you find something that can make your life even more joyous and brilliant.
Ann
Comment by Ann — August 4, 2008 @ 12:28 pm
Glad to see this part of your thinking. It makes me trust you more–in a way that all that juicy optimism doesn’t. My life has had real challenges and the way to wholeness has been through embrasing that part of life and being able to use the energy stored in the darkness. Pema Chodron speaks alot about accepting the stuff we’d rather not accept. For me that means accepting my humanity which is a difficult task for this child of Christianity’s view of human nature and sin.
Hey, it’s fun to talk to you. THanks.
Comment by Marjorie — August 11, 2008 @ 10:04 am
LightHearted Musings for Monday, Aug 4…
Bookmarked your post over at Blog Bookmarker.com!…
Trackback by lighthearted — August 20, 2008 @ 4:02 am