The Positivity Ratio

Barbara Fredrickson's excerpt from  her book Positivity is mentioned in the Awakin.org website for us to enjoy. Though, she has withdrawn her support for the positivity ratio, its a great read. Below is my reflection to the article:

I have learned from my personal experience that life is not a straight line. It has curves, twists and turns. I have experienced negative emotions such as fear, depression and anger. They are not easy to control. Such negative emotions have made my life difficult. There are two ways of dealing with such negative emotions: denial,suppression or rationalization. The other way is to recognize them, and work on them or get professional help.

Some time ago I went for one week long silent retreat. The first two days were difficult for me. I am not used to remaining silent for more than a day. It was a new and difficult experience for me. I felt restless, agitated, and bored. I accepted my difficult emotions and difficult times. After two days it was easy for me to remain silent. In fact I enjoyed the presence of silence and saw the value and power of silence. I spent a good amount of time on introspection and also seeing the peaceful beauty of nature. Silence opened up new doors of perception for me.

Keeping my mind and heart open and maintaining self-awareness helps me to tap into genuine heart-felt positive emotions. I feel inner fullness when I experience love, kindness, joy and compassion. There is fullness in such genuine positive emotional experiences. Since there is genuine fullness and richness in such living, I do not need to grasp for the counterfeit gold.
Namaste!