Nowadays people are more into the 'good vibes only' position. It's like, no matter how hard their life goes they only allow themselves to be positive. There's nothing wrong to be positive but forcing ourselves to stay and feel positive is what I call toxic.
Positivity is all about feeling optimistic, practicing positive thinking, being with positive-minded people. But when you force yourself to feel these ways, you neglect your negative emotions and pretend to be happy & positive.
Now you can understand what problems can occur by forced positivity. The question is, how can we not force and know that we are forcing?
It's actually simple.
Allow yourself to expose all your emotions, embrace your negative emotions as well as the positive ones. Don't pretend or try to replicate something you are not feeling. Understand yourself clearly and to do that build a better connection with yourself. All this can eliminate your toxic positive attitude.
Let's see how we can progress to practice genuine positivity!
It's unpleasant to deal with negative emotions but they need to be felt and dealt with honesty. Otherwise, we can't solve life problems, they will be hidden somewhere, we will reflect them somehow. Understanding this basic is necessary to approach life with a better positive attitude.
So, these two are the key; don't pretend to be happy and don't hold yourself to experience negative emotions. This attitude can lead to having a better positive attitude. Whenever you feel the stress comes from 'I have to be positive', know that you are going towards toxicity. So, take a moment to understand what you actually need to do.
Positivity is good, we all know that. So let's make the most out of it!
So does that mean even if we are sad and somehow hopeless, we shouldn´t try to embrace the reality and be positive that things would be fine? I used to feel sad and hopeless sometimes and after a while, I try to be positive to make the best out of the day. Does that mean I am trying to force myself?
Thanks for sharing your experience
I totally agree I hate the toxic positivity where pain seems a sin, feeling pain it's normale it's part of like like any other valuable feeling
Thanks for your input