NEGATIVE THINKING IS A SWEET INTOXICANT

HIGH SPIRITS, OR HIGH ON SPIRIT?

WE'RE DRUNK ON OUR THOUGHTS

There was a farmer who was in the habit of drinking heavily.Every other day he would get inebriated at the local pub and hence couldn't work after that.At the pub he would meet similar friends who were also high on spirits ;not high spirited necessarily.As time went by, the frequency and duration of his intoxicated stupor increased. His health suffered and he lost his entire estate.Many wanted to help him ,but he  would not let them .He liked his drunkenness. It took him a long time
,and a broken marriage to understand that he was indeed ailing from addiction to drinking.It took him an even longer time to start treating himself.By then,of course, it was too late.

 WE LOVE TO BE INEBRIATED

Cut to our ordinary lives.Just like the farmer  addicted to alcohol,most of us are also addicted .We are addicted to cynicism,dislike,resentment,judgement,fault finding,blaming,backbiting,complaining,vengeance,envy,and a host of other unwholesome thought processes.We are addicted to negative thinking.

That’s right,negative thinking is an addiction.Even the occasional bout is an addiction.There is no hiding behind excuses here.

EXCUSES AND ALIBIS

 Just like our ‘farmer friend’ above,we find similar company for our negativity .We also find excuses for supporting our addiction.Someone ,or something is the reason for triggering our negativity,our addiction,always.The other guy is usually at fault for our drunkenness.Besides,our best argument  is our lazy imitation of others,”doesn’t everybody do it?”or “after all, I’m human”.

This is pitifully limited thinking.

Being human has a more nobler connotation.Being human offers the flexibility of a more elevated repertoire of behavior, surely?

 WE  ARE UNAWARE OF OUR DISORDERS

In the meantime, while we are busy defending ourselves,the years of our life are scudding past,like clouds in the sky.We do not even realize we are addicted to something vile for our souls.Let alone remedy it.Most often it is too late.We go to our graves with the scars of our unhappy indulgence lining our  faces.The  self inflicted scars are deeper still on our hearts.

THE OCCASIONAL BOUT: PARDONABLE?

Can we not overcome our addiction?how will that happen if we do not even realize that we are addicted and ailing?How can we stop frequenting the ‘pub of malice’if we keep imitating other people drunk on the same wine?can we ever stop taking shelter behind our humanness for our negative attitudes?how do we really define what being human means?Or are we trying to craft a limited definition of human beings?

Maybe you are not an addict .But if you are,what do you plan on doing?