On toxic positivity and the blessing of negative instances.

Greetings my friend,

    Recently, I've observed a phenomena that has been particularly bothering me. In our western society toxic-positivity has been promoted, and become the semi-norm. From motivational speakers preaching about "no-negativity", to doctors prescribing anti-depressants to the smallest of negative thought, to marijuana being more and more accepted by people who don't need it's medicinal properties, our obsession with happiness as infiltrated almost every layer of society.

    So, you may ask, what's the harm in it? What's wrong with being positive? Well, of course nothing. It's simply emotions or a state of mind. However, like anything in life, excess of it is detrimental to the individual and to society. Too much drinking leads to liver disease, too much smoking leads to lung issues, too much food causes stomach pain, too much oxygen causes oxygen sickness, too much sadness causes depression. This is not any different with positivity. 

    Excessive positivity is directly related to ignorance and being oblivious to reality. Life requires balance. This is why things are given to us ,by god, in pairs. Sadness is given with happiness, pain is given with pleasure, water is given with fire, earth is given with air. Constant positivity ignores the necessity of adversity and negativity in life. Striving for constant positivity is hedonistic. Humans are not created to feel positivity and happiness alone. We need pain, sadness and other negative emotions in life. The balance is crucial to live according to nature, and to experience the full human experience. 

    Let's examine a "perfect" world; No pain, no sadness, complete pleasure and abundance. Imagine everyone constantly positive, anything that happens is met with positive responses. 0 negative thoughts. Any personal undertakings, no matter the importance or difficulty is met with positivity without a drop of negative emotions mixed in. I'm sure halfway through the paragraph you've started to think about the absurdity and the unlikeliness of this world. The world I described to you impossible to achieve. 

    We need negative thoughts and emotions win our life. Positivity requires gratitude and one cannot be grateful without a negative thing, place, person, event, to counter it. Toxic positivity forces us to be oblivious to the realities of life. If you cannot get upset, angry, sad or distressed about your current situation, you cannot push yourself. Positivity isn't enough of a fuel for the average person to fire their engine. It is the misfortunes that drive us to make a change and go forward. This is the blessing behind the negative instances. The frustrations of today pave the way for the solutions of tomorrow. 

    We shall welcome negative events in life, they are some of the most effective teachers in our life. Every negative instance is an immediate opportunity for a lesson and personal growth. These events mature us emotionally, teach us about reality, teach us strategies to avoid the source of the negative instance, and prepare us for the future. Failure, regret, pain, humiliation, think back to the events from your life when these negative instances were present. Now take a look at all the lessons they taught you, and made you into who you are today. 

   Farewell.