Negative Thinking: The Glass is Half-EMPTY
“Someone drank my water! Some of my water spilled! There isn’t enough water in the pitcher to fill my glass. Whatever the reason, my darn glass is half empty! It may not be enough for me to fully quench my thirst. Darn that person who drank my water!” This is from the mind of someone under the influence of negative thinking.
Notice how many negative ways the mind can bend and twist this scenario, if given the chance. This person is full of opinions that something bad has happened to the water and even goes as far as to wish more bad on the person who drank some of the water. What’s worse is, these claims are not even substantiated! There is no proof that anyone drank the water and yet in this negative state we come to already believe it to be true.
Negative thinking is the exact opposite of positive thinking. Negative thinking does not necessarily always see things as bad, but it does not see the good in life. It is generally thinking of things in terms of lack, opposition, and “what-if” scenarios. Everything that has happened is due to some undesirable cause. These thoughts are usually generated in a mind full of worries, fears, and discomforts.
Negative thinking has power. It has the same power as positive thinking – to mold our personality, shape our reality, and to create our destiny. The only difference is the outcome negative thinking brings about. This type of thinking usually starts from mistakes we make, unpleasant incidents, wrong decisions, and tragedies we experience. These unlikable ideas, fears, and doubts become buried deep in minds like plant seeds. As they grow and flourish, they become hindrances in our ability to be who we are meant to be, do the things we are meant to do, and have the life we are meant to have.
If negative thinking is given the time and opportunity, self-doubt and fears develop and slowly take over our emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical strengths. Flourishing negativity eats away at our self-confidence and our trust in ourselves. From this, the words that will begin to destroy our dreams are born – “I can’t” and “I won’t”.
Usually, we prefer to stay in a place where everything is safe and where the dangers are minimal. For example, one may avoid joining competitions because he knows he can’t win. Or instead of courting a beautiful woman, one may settle for someone not so attractive because he knows he can’t win over a gorgeous female. This is where we realize the vastness of our limitations. We conclude that we have lost even before we begin and that we have already failed before we have even tried. This is where limiting beliefs are formed. Where our own personal truths can be malformed within us about things such as our self worth, our ability to succeed, and our relationships with people and money. What we don’t realize is that the greatest failure is not losing, but not trying at all.
The power of negative thinking can make one unattractive because he believes he can’t be good looking. It gives one an awful future because he believes that he can’t find a job or earn enough money. It lets one stay single and alone because he believes that he make friends or find his true love. Because he can’t… because he won’t. Negative thinking can be extremely debilitating and detrimental to our well-being.
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