Don't Worry, Be Happy!

Some days "Being Positive" really makes me negative. I mean, there's only so much one can take of anything, whether it be food, water, sleep or positivity.

The whole Positive Cult(ure) to me smacks of blinders, rose colored glasses and sheep. The Grass is green! (baa) The sun is shining! (Baaa) Don't look, everything will be wonderful (BAAAA) and "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" (Baa, Baa, Baaaaa!) All the while the grass is dying, a storm is brewing and various puppet masters are pulling on strings.

Positivity can be like sugar: too much makes you sick. It often is used to hide or camouflage flaws with a sweet candy coating that sweetens the taste of truth, IF truth can be found in the glucose haze. "Be Positive" is often used as a reprimand to those who spot the flaws, implying that if only one was positive then there would be no questions; all would be flawless and we would have world peace or somesuch. Once reprimanded the Negative Nelly sinks deeper into the negativity caused by the reprimand, or presumably is to pull themself up and resolve to again join the Positive Cult and keep on the sunny side of life.

The positivists who drive me craziest are the cheerleaders, or "rah-rah crowd". Let a boss, celebrity or other butt waiting to be kissed make even the silliest unbelievable statement--Boom! The bandwagon is loaded with cheering, affirming, ego stroking yes-men and ready to go. The innocent who dares to state that "the emperor has no clothes" is quickly shushed or worse. The pragmatists are ignored, and the squeaky wheel is quickly replaced rather than greased.

Don't get me wrong, there is always a time and place for being positive. The last creature out, after the release of all the world's troubles from Pandora's box, was Hope. Without hope there would be no new inventions, or advances in medicine or consumable products to satiate the sheep. Hope keeps us going when things seem as though they can't get any worse. Yet hope can also deaden the courage needed to keep going and to simply do what needs to be done. Dreams are full of hope yet have little substance as opposed to plans. And many a person immersed in positivity fails to heed the warning signs of impending problems that someone less hopeful would have seen. It all comes down to many admonitions from throughout the ages: "Balance in all things" "Nothing to excess" and even "For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven".