Mindfulness vs Positive Thinking

This morning my coffeemaker overflowed. I had not put the carafe in the right place so coffee and wet grounds flowed all over the countertop, onto the floor and even into the silverware drawer. I had to clean up the mess before I had my first cup of coffee! How irritating!

A few years ago this sort of situation might have sent me into a tailspin of negative thinking about how unlucky I was, and how this sort of thing always happens to me. Eventually I would have used this incident as another example of why my life was so bad. I would have then gone on to have a terrible day. Today, however I grumpily cleaned up the mess and, after I had my first cup of coffee, allowed the irritation to drop away. In other words, I got over it.

In this country we have just begun to realize the effect negative thinking has on our mental and physical health. Negative thinking can color how we see our lives, blocking out the good and magnifying the bad. It can lead to health problems from headaches and stomach problems to high blood pressure and even cancer.

The good news is that people are now starting to recognize how much of their thinking is negative. The bad news is that many people, fearing that their negative thinking is attracting negative things into their lives, are trying to wrestle their negative thoughts into a positive direction and becoming even more stressed out and fearful in the process.

Mindfulness, a Zen technique for self awareness, teaches us to recognize our thoughts without trying to change them. The simple act of awareness allows us to separate ourselves from our thoughts and view them from an outside perspective. Because we are not caught up in the emotion of our thoughts, we can see where our thoughts end and reality begins.

By contrast, positive thinking requires us to turn our thoughts, by force, from negative to positive. Not only does this take constant vigilance—which can be exhausting—but it also keeps us locked inside our heads so to speak.

So the next time you find your thoughts turning negative try mindfulness instead of positive thinking. You may be surprised at how quickly your stress disappears.