Positive Thinking v. Repression

[Balbrae]

Conventional psychology teaches that one should not repress one's thoughts or feelings. The theory posits that repressed emotions cause problems for one, in the form of mental and physical harm. So the belief is that, by ignoring one's thoughts or feelings, one does not permit them to be released, thereby causing them to be repressed.

However, positive-thinking psychology would seem to hold a somewhat different perspective. Under the LoA, one gets what one thinks about, whether one wants it or not. Thus, proponents of IM and LoA encourage thinking positive thoughts and training the mind to believe that the desired result has already occurred.

This comes down to one interesting question: when we choose our thoughts wisely, disallowing fears to monopolize our mental bandwidth, are we setting ourselves up for repression-related problems down the road? My theory: nope. I believe that not only is it acceptable to push the negative feelings off our mental airwaves, but it is largely required in most circumstances under the LoA, which operates off our dominant mental impressions. Althought, technically, this does not involve "pushing" negative thoughts out of our minds, but, rather, "pulling in" positive thoughts.

For me, negativity is overrated by naysayers and dooms-dayers. So when I get fears knocking at my door, I do what I can to listen to other sounds. Soon I can't hear the knocking anymore. While Buddhists would likely urge one to witness, watch, or acknowledge one's fears, in order to release them, doing so can often be dicey. For the untrained meditator, "watching" one's fears can lead to a fixation on them. In turn, such obsessions can combine to form the dominant mental impressions of one's mind, which can lead to manifested reality under the LoA.

Some might call ignoring the fears that knock at our doors "repression," but I call it choosing one's thoughts carefully. We harness the power of the LoA by directing our thoughts. So in most circumstances (where seeking mental help is not required) one would do well to crank up the volume of positive thought. What do you think?

[hamix]

I wouldn't say as such.

Modern psychology favours positive thinking, since it obviously is better for mental health. But the means to do this is to process, compartmentalise, evaluate and dismiss the emotion, not repress it.

An example is thus. Say somebody cuts one off in traffic, or one has a tiff with a wife. Initially, one will be angry (most would be). But after this, one processes the angry feeling, evaluates it (I won't see the bad driver again, and won't let him/her control my day or how I feel) and eventually dismiss it out hand.

It's about having a complex management of emotions, not repressing emotions or denying they exist. Negative feelings are part of being human. but excessive negative emotions are not good, since they impact on our happiness, mental health and even physical health. This is why it's best to process, evaluate and dismiss negativity in our emotions and thoughts.

[Fred Tracy]

Nah, I don't think so.

Even though we are discouraging negative thinking with the law of attraction, that doesn't mean we are repressing it. If I have negative thoughts, I simply watch them – almost in a meditation type style – and let them be.

I still cultivate positive thinking, but I don't repress the negative. I simply don't get it energy to perpetuate itself in my brain.