Yes I try to be positive.

I’m just throwing this out there as I’ve received numerous pms over the years from people suggesting that I’m a bit to positive about things as I often make comments in threads suggesting that people should be more tolerant and understanding, especially in threads that are made for venting . Yes I know that venting has some value but…pages and pages of it demoralize me because it changes nothing.

Yes, it is important to me to be as positive as possible. I find that positive energy is less contagious and less popular than negative energy, but much more productive. Being positive takes practice, practice and practice. To be positive doesn’t mean one chooses to ignore problems and pretend like things are better than they really are. It means you recognize problems, the reality of things, and then take action to change things, whining doesn’t get it done. It just makes people crabby and it upsets my stomach, personally.

This intolerance, whining, is a form of hate, maybe not strong hate, but still hate in my opinion, that’s just how I view it. I’m going to share my perspective of this in relation to activity. However, it’s easy to see how it would translate to other aspects of life.

Hate/intolerance is the initial emotion many of us feel when we see something new for the first time. “That’s for kids. Have you ever seen anything so ridiculous? That’s just stupid. Grow up already!” Thoughts such as these are the first sign that one is headed in this direction. We’ve heard these things said about yo-yoing, complained about it, and then said similar things about other ideas and activities. I find it rather interesting that we can discount what we don’t immediately appreciate without any real thought. This seems to be human nature and feeds intolerance.

Such thinking closes opportunity and potential. It actually prevents us from trying something new and unique, it minimizes the efforts of others, and we impose limits on ourselves! Why limit yourself? Do you enjoy limits being placed on you by others? Why would you set limits on yourself? This is kind of tied to the fear of failure.

Often times we don’t try something because we are afraid to fail (negativity). However, not trying could be viewed as a type of failure. I like to believe that you can’t fail if you take action. You can fall short of your goal but that just means you need to take more action, not that you failed. So let’s say you take action and you succeed and someone notices. You have a few options, you can think “stupid questions, leave me alone, what a newb,” and similar thoughts or you can say, “thanks,” answer questions, be personable, and maybe even offer to help someone learn to throw. The first guy keeps others from trying something new, looks down on the newcomers inexperience and interest. You know people like this, people that do cool things but you would never ask them about it because they would react…yeah you know how they’d react and you don’t want to suffer that humiliation. The second guy is totally approachable and glad to answer questions and visit with others that show interest. You know people like this, people you respect and appreciate. Which guy do you want to be? I want to be the second guy for sure.

Yeah I know, I know, it sounds like I’m on a soap box but the truth is I understand this process because I’m not immune to it either. It takes a bit of effort and determination to see things in a positive way, after all it’s easier to be negative than positive for most of us. It’s easier to complain and do nothing, rather than put one’s self on the line and take action. I’m just saying, taking action is the only way you get change.

My family endured great evil this year and it’s been a challenge. The family wouldn’t not have survived had it not been for the belief of being positive and creating change.

The intent of this post is not to ask that you act differently but to explain to you why I try to be as positive as possible and communicate that I do see problems and I do see the reality of things, but I choose to take action, to take action is to succeed, I choose positive change and to initiate change that betters my life and those around me. Perspective matters!

Hopefully now you understand something a bit more about me and will find my need for positivity more palatable. This will be my only post on this subject.

Regards,
Skitrz

6 Likes

Didn’t read the whole post but I’m going to give you a thank you any way for the first two paragraphs. Stay awesome, skitrz.

Yuki

Sweet Ski’s brah.

Nothing wrong with being too positive (if there is such a thing). It’s the posters on here that are always negative that irks me, so a little positivity ain’t a bad thing.

Keep spreading that sunshine man. ;D

yawn

Do you really expect me to read all of that!? :smiley: