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New Thought has been expounding on the virtues of
"positivity" for two hundred years, often considered
by some as promoting a "Pollyanna" focus on life,
referring to the overly optimistic leading character in
Eleanor H. Porter's best-selling children's book of the
same name, published in 1913 - followed by twelve
equally positive sequels that came to be known as
Glad Books. And there have been two movies, with
Hayley Mills winning a special Oscar for her
portrayal in the 1960 Disney film.
Turns out that New Thought and Pollyanna were
ahead of their time, now legitimized by the extensive
research of the Positive Psychology movement,
cofounded in 1999 by Martin Seligman, Ph.D and
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyii, Ph.D. This movement
now offers a body of positive research substantial
enough to fill the recently published textbook of
Applied Positive Psychology.
In Chapter Eight of Book One of Finding God
On The Train titled - More Heaven On Earth -
Finding Love and Happiness, I reviewed Seligman's
work on Learned Optimism, and his more recent
Theory of Well-Being. The goal of his well-being
work is to increase the amount of flourishing in our
own lives and on the planet.
I have been following Csikszentmihalyi's work
and his theory of FLOW - The Psychology Of
Optimal Experience, since the publishing of his
book of the same name over twenty years ago.
I remember reviewing this book in the early 1990's
with my Men's group at my then local church
in Baltimore, because I was so impressed with
what the theory had to offer and its positive
focus.
Up until the advent of the Positive Psychology
movement, I considered Flow to be the only
true theory of positive consciousness. Chapter
Nine - Mind Control - Control Of Consciousness,
which is currently being revised, and will be
republished shortly on the blog, features
Csikszentmihalyi's work on Flow and how it
assists us with understanding, controlling, and
marshaling our often renegade thoughts.
All of this is an extended introduction to Barbara
Fredrickson, Ph.D, whose work is featured in her
book titled, POSITIVITY - Groundbreaking Research
Reveals How to Embrace the Hidden Strength
of Positive Emotions, Overcome Negativity, and
Thrive - which is going to be the focus of my
upcoming blog posts over the next week.
Fredrickson is currently the Kenan Distinguished
Professor at the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill, and considered one of the leading
Positive Psychology theorists/researchers
with her Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive
Emotions that outlines ten forms of positivity;
joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride,
amusement, inspiration, awe, and love.
Fredrickson starts with six facts about positivity
that I would like to kick off with:
1. Positivity feels good - offering the sparkle of
good feelings.
2. Positivity changes how our brain works -
widening our span of possibilities.
3. Positivity transforms our future - it brings
out the best in us.
4. Positivity puts the brakes on negativity -
positivity calms like a reset button lowering
our heartbeat and blood pressure.
5. Positivity obeys a tipping point - if it is
experienced often enough, a tipping point ratio
is met and we will live from a positive vantage
point.
6. We can increase our positivity - we have
more say then we think about how we feel.
The book clearly demonstrates that positivity
can make an enormous difference in our lives.
We will be reviewing each aspect of how Fredrickson
suggests this actually occurs, but to get us started
I offer the Affirmative Thought below stressing
the importance of striving to be positive, even
when things are not exactly going as desired in
our lives.
POSITIVE, EVEN WHEN
Let us be positive today even when
we have every reason not to, even
when our tired minds reach for the
obvious negative – when the work
load appears dramatic and our
energy is at its lowest ebb.
Let us be positive today forcing
our focus beyond the most recent
yawn, the seemingly monotonous
tone of all who seek our service
or assistance, reaching deep within
to ignite a spark of passion that
waits our call to action.
Let us be positive today, refusing
to waste this opportunity, to forgo
an unexpected smile, a word of
welcomed encouragement, perhaps
even a loving embrace – realizing
we alone select the emotion of this
fleeting moment, perhaps to capture
its waiting splendor.
AT G. 7.11.2013
WITH LOVE, G.