There is something very charismatic about positivity. It's not just a mindset but a personality in itself. No wonder why we love to talk to individuals who give us positive vibes; their aura is so captivating that their positivity brightens up everyone. Did you ever think about what makes positivity so powerful and impactful? Let's dive in to see why.
The great mystic Sufi poet and philosopher and my favourite poet of all, Mewlana Jalal Udin Rumi, said, "there is a sun in every person".
How beautifully he described that we all have positive energy; that positive emotion gives us a positive mindset, which improves our psychosocial and emotional development and positively illuminates our surroundings just like sun rays.
Wisdom of Positive psychology
In a very similar but very scientific way, Barbra L. Fredrickson, in 2001, proposed the theory of positive emotions called Broaden and Built theory. She stated that positive emotions have a broadening effect on us. They enable us to observe and think beyond a narrower perspective, allowing us the see the broader picture.
Broadening effect
Researchers have found the positive emotion brings about a broadening effect in us. Fredrickson and Thomas Joiner researched in 2002 to demonstrate the broadening impact of positive emotions. They concluded that people with positive emotions exhibited broad-minded coping. In other words, people with the initial level of positive emotions showed an overall increase in creative problem-solving.
Building effect
Positive emotions also have a building effect, just like the broadening effect. When positive feelings help us and enable us to see beyond our narrow perspective, we could see that there's more than one way to solve the problem. That is when these positive emotions draw a diverse range of cognitive and behavioral responses. So we tend to be more creative, playful, excited, and happy.
Upward spiral
Positive emotions like joy, happiness, gratitude, and contentment may help generate resources by generating even more positive sentiments, which she referred to as the "upward spiral" of positive emotions.
Fredrickson, in 2000, hypothesizes that the broadening and building effect of positive emotions might act as an antidote to negative emotions by "undoing" the lingering effect of negative emotions.
Be positive, live longer
In 2001, Danner undertook a study and took the handwritten autobiographies of 180 catholic nuns and scored them for emotional content and survival-related during the ages of 75 to 95. He found an inverse association between positive emotional content and risk of mortality in late life.
In 2019 a study also found that positive thinking can add up to 11 to 15% longer life span, which meant living to 85 years or beyond.
Let's get positive, shall we?
Positive emotions could help us improve our well-being and positively influence our lives, but also can allow us to be able to positively impact our surroundings.
When we have positive sentiments, we tend to be more caring, loving, altruistic, creative, excited, interested, and much more. But how to be positive and how to get into a positive mindset. Let me help you with that?
● Count your blessings and be grateful for them.
● Try to reframe the negative events and look for the bigger picture. You would see there have been blessings in disguise and many other positive aspects that you could not see before.
● Practice mindfulness –rooted in Buddhist philosophy, the technique works wonders. Mindfulness is a technique in which one relaxes and tries to focus on the present.
● Be kind because kindness impacts positive emotions and has a lasting effect on our emotions
● Take the step, however small it might be. A small step to be more kind, patient, and creative, even if it's the most minor effort, if consistent, would do wonders for you.
There are many other ways of getting into a positive mindset; you could have your very own way of feeling positive, too. But whatever that might be, stick to it, practice it and let the positivity brighten your life.
As Rumi said, "Your light is more magnificent than sunrise or sunset".
