I liked a few points made in this post. In particular the part about don't let others hold the pen when writing your story. I also liked the part about being selfless, but was a little confused at the last statement in the paragraph. "You have to understand the fact that you should work hard to help others because in a way you are helping yourself." This acknowledgement of "Helping yourself" in the process of helping others no longer makes things selfless. Maybe I misunderstood, but I feel other people could also take this the wrong way?
I agree with J regarding negativity. You can't eliminate it all. Nor should you want to, or have too. it's unrealistic to go through life like that. You have to balance it in a healthy way. Using your attitude and experiences in life to turn Liabilities into assets is an amazing skill.
Negativity is all around us. For example, I don't always like outspoken people that speak up, or fight for what they believe in, but are they just negative people, or good people fighting negative influences? if we all sheltered ourselves with only the positive and avoided anything negative, our freedoms would have crumbled long ago. Often times these people are fighting negative influences in society that could affect us all, so we stand to benefit from their efforts. I can't turn a blind eye on them. We should thank them. World wars are a prime example of this on a larger scale.
Passive people only become the oppressed. I'd much rather live in dangerous freedom than peaceful slavery.
I loved this. I think your last sentence summed it up well: "I'd rather live in dangerous freedom than peaceful slavery." Anything that is going to help us grow is going to be messy, strenuous, and frustrating. Productive use of negative emotions can help us be even stronger and better grounded.
I see what the author means in terms of not allowing negativity to overwhelm you (that does not have to happen at all) but I agree that negativity is not useless unless we become addicted to it.
Thanks Jenny. I agree in the power of positive thinking. Too much negativity puts one in self destruct mode. However, we also can't live in bubbles.