Looking on the brighter side

How many times have you had someone tell you to just cheer up, or to look at the bright side? How many self-help programs tell you to focus on the positive?

For many years, I thought looking on the brighter side was either a Pollyanna exhortation or an impossibility. What about all of this reality?

Other people's negativity brought about my own negative reaction to them. THEY shouldn't be so negative, after all. They were unfair, and unreasonable. MY negativity, though was always VERY reasonable.

I know that my own view of my life has changed quite a bit, and now when I observe someone else's negativity, I just find it noteworthy and something I don't choose to be near. An example -

The office occupants downstairs from us operate a healing practice - chiropractic, massage, acupuncture and such. The requisite elements are present - lovely bamboo, comforting furniture, appealing scent - yet, in our short relationship as neighbors they have complained repeatedly of our interference with their occupancy. They have locked the gates and doors without considering whether we are present, they have parked their cars to block us from entering or leaving, and then complained repeatedly about our presence, not our acts.

It used to really annoy me, their view and communications. Now, I just find it puzzling. Do they understand the weird connection between their business and their lack of awareness of other people?

Looking on the brighter side IS a choice. It feels better, and it is antithetical to the way most humans are trained to view life. It requires practice and repetition to seed firmly into the psyche. There is not a sense of Pollyanna ignorance to having a brighter viewpoint - there is only peace and a sense that everything will work out as it should.

Today's New York Times features an article that suggests a life without enjoyment isn't worth living. Very interesting stuff to consume as I reflect on this idea.