Seamus Madden M.A.S.C. Posted on : 02/05/2008 08:30:22

Positive Mental Attitude.

Positive Mental Attitude.

Why it is harder to find than the Holy Grail.

We are born with the ability to show 6 main emotions; anger, fear, disgust, sadness, joy and surprise. Of those 6, four are negative, one is positive and one is neutral.

We have acquired them due to natural selection, which is the process of nature keeping the good traits that benefit a species and letting the bad ones die out.

In the early days of our species we needed those four negative emotions as they allowed us to be safe, find food, keep predators at bay and keep the species going by being able to find suitable mates. We went from a more ape like form to the human one when we found meat and that then allowed us to be more capable to solve the new challenges that would then face us. The trouble is we no longer have the same dangers that we needed to be safe from as the centuries passed. And now in the modern age those dangers are all but a plot for the latest sci fi or horror movies. In a nutshell we have just not had the time to evolved better emotions to replace the ones that we sorely need to change for our species to face our new challenges the upshot is that we are globally anxious and suffering more stress then we had to face 20000 years before. We just don’t have the time to be happy because we are genetically predisposed to seeing situations from a negative perspective which as most of you will agree is just not helping people be mentally or emotionally healthy.

For some of us the old ways that helped us cope or make sense of the world around us are not able to keep up at best or are physically destructive at worst. We now doubt our own abilities which lead to trust issues, phobias and other symptoms of anxiety. Society as a whole is now more competitive, confrontational and gender role confused then ever before and more and more people are looking for answers to questions that only they can answer. They can’t answer their own questions or help themselves because they can only see the negatives. All the behaviours or actions of others can only be explained by a negative reason never a positive one. Although for some they eventually realize that some people may actually be motivated by good that doesn’t dawn on them until after they may have made a total fool of themselves and by which time they feel it is too late to say sorry.

I’m not a follower of blaming others for my mistakes; I see a cup half full and not half empty. I believe that I am in control of who I am and what I can do. Can’t or won’t are two words I seldom use. Other people’s behaviours seldom affect how I feel or act. I am not able to walk on water and my farts smell.

If I can have that level of integrity and be that objective and still smile am I the only one? I very much doubt it, there are loads of others on here that I have seen answer questions that are just as objective and therefore must be very capable people.

I bet a lot of them were not born that way, they had to find what made themselves tick and put their life experiences in to some form of perspective to fully appreciate what they are made of and what they are worth.

What ever method that helped them reach the way they are now maybe varied and

Will be different from how others reached the same point but they will have similarities and challenges in common. But I bet that they may not have got if from a book or even just from someone just telling them to “get themselves together”, or words to that effect. They listened to what they thought and curiosity made them ask questions about who they are and where they had come from. Then one day it all just fell in to place and the rest is history.

One of the lessons that I learnt at an early age was that we all have a choice, we can decide to be happy today, or whether somebody else’s behaviour will affect our own behaviour or not. We can decide that we are a capable individual or that we are as useless as others wish to make us believe. We can trust our instincts about ourselves or we can be neurotic and go through the rest or our lives being afraid of our own shadows. Having a positive mental attitude depends on the individual deciding what will make them happy. Taking responsibility for our own actions is the first step to having a lasting PMA and having a plan is the second.

So what form should this plan take?

Firstly it has to be specific; saying “I want to be happy” will not help. Neither will saying “I want to be rich and famous”. Being unrealistic will not help either so saying that you want to be a fighter pilot at 60 isn’t likely to happen.

Secondly be honest with yourself.

There is nothing to be gained by sprouting things like how good you are with animals so you should be a vet when seeing a 50 year spider web sends you in to a blind panic, or saying that you want to be a fireman when standing on your tiptoes makes you want to faint.

Thirdly be realistic with time.

If you need to gain a recognized qualification to pursue your dream then allow for you having a life at the same time. If the average person may take two years to get it then allow three to be on the safe side unless you can easily commit more time to achieve it.

And lastly, and most importantly.

This is your life and it is for you to achieve whatever you may wish for. Nothing is impossible it only seems that way to make it seem worth having, and to stop your government from taxing it.

Keep smiling.