This article is about seeing and being able to use the positive in everything. We will start with exploring the foundation of being able to live a fully positive and successful life, what prevents it, and then proceed to more detail about the method. There is no point in discussing how to be successful until we have found and corrected the reasons we are not. If the engine is at full power but the plane is tightly tied to the ground, it will not move. First, we must remove the ropes.
Spiritual development happens best and easiest when you are happy, at peace and balanced. Certainly traumatic situations often are a strong catalyst to growth, but I would prefer to take charge of my growth rather than waiting, or looking for a disaster. The first step is to become happier. This may be obvious but elusive to achieve, hence the point of this article as it provides a method. The reason happiness is the first step is because negative thoughts are generally born in self-pity. Self-pity certainly separates us from God and the spiritual realm. It is not happiness we seek as much as the eradication of self-pity.
Self-pity makes you depressed. Sadness may look like depression but it is very different. Depression is caused by self-pity and sadness is generally caused by loneliness. Give a depressed person all sorts of wonderful things, and they stay depressed. Give a sad person a warm smile from the opposite sex and they are immediately elated. If you are sad because you are lonely and the loneliness is not just for a human companion, which would be self-pity, but for a companionship much deeper, then that sadness will not inhibit your spiritual growth. In fact, it may propel you towards it, whereas depression will definitely separate you. Depression is based on you not getting what you want or feeling worthless, it is self centered. Sadness is an unfulfilled desire to be with or do something with something or one you love, it is more of a desire to give than get.
Considering that the majority of humans suffer from self-pity which causes depression and negative emotions, we work towards eliminating self-pity as a first step towards spiritual growth. The manufacturers of Prozac will not like this.
The Method
Self-pity comes from feeling that you are always getting the short end of the stick, and not getting what you want or need. The cure to that is in always seeing the opposite. It is the old saying, what goes up must come down, and likewise, the further down you bend the springboard, the further up you will be sent.
In the Tai chi classics it is said that to go forward, you first go backward, to go backwards, you first move forwards, to go up you first go down. There are many ancient teachings which tell us that everything is its opposite and to gain one thing, the opposite must exist.
In my experience, investing the stock market, I watch my daily value go up and down by thousands of dollars. Yet, I have as much joy in watching the value go down as up. It took me a few years to figure out why I would enjoy seeing myself lose $4,000 in a day, which I must admit was a bit strange from an objective point of view, even for me seeing myself do it. It struck me today that it is because I know that when I lose, someone gains. Energy cannot be destroyed, it can only be changed, or moved.
This means that if there is a big a movement down in value, there is the potential for me to have that big a movement in the positive. If I had greater skill and wisdom, I could potentially always have that big a move in the upward direction consistently. But because I am not too sharp and skilled in the stock market I go up and down rather than constantly up.
In knowing that everything is simultaneously its opposite, as I lose money someone else gains. This keeps my mind positive, knowing that with calmness, patience and perseverance, it can come back. This is the Law of Rhythm, I win I lose, I lose I win. The money may come back in the stock market, or in Forex, or in some other business, but I know that eventually, everything ends, including me.
The more we see that everything has its opposite and that if we were more spiritually awakened, we could align and position ourselves to always be moving in the positive direction. Of course we will also be master of our own life.
Working towards understanding in every moment that every situation has its opposite will significantly reduce your negative emotions by automatically increasing the positive, based on the Law of Opposites, you will have greater potential to reach a spiritual awakening and have more events on the positive side.
Everything is a based in your mind, and the state of your mind is determined by your thoughts. Give this a moment of thought. If you did not know that something happened, could it effect you? That is not possible. You must know about it in order for it to effect your mood and state of mind. Thus, everything that effects your mood is all in your mind.
Exercise
You can choose what you think or you can let any negative rubbish influence you. I have found that by cutting out TV news, radio and all the media, that has changed my state of mind tremendously as it has for many of my students. Funny enough, I still know everything of importance happening in the world because people love to talk.
Try it for a month, a total media fast, and then see how you feel. I know that for some people their profession would make this impossible, so I offer this for those of you who are not in that position.
Join the discussion