Simply Positive Thoughts

I was watching Disney’s famous movie “ Inside Out ” the other day. Those of you who are unaware of what it is, let me give a backdrop about this movie. It is a story of a young girl Riley and five characters that live inside her head namely – Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust. This movie depicts how these five emotions control the life of Riley. It was hilarious to see all the emotions materialize as characters. Can you imagine Sadness saying, “ Remember that funny movie where the dog died? ” Well, that’s what happiness must be for Sadness. Haha! And what about Fear trying to quit his job out of Fear? Poor guy later found out that he is an important emotion and cannot quit. Anyway, every time Riley got upset, Joy would try to force happy thoughts on her. Joy tried, with all her might, to seclude Sadness in a corner while she made Riley’s life joyous. She assumed that keeping Sadness at bay would keep Riley cheerful. Later in the movie Joy realized that Sadness is compassionate and ...

“What have I done to deserve this?” “Why is God punishing me?” “I was born with bad luck.” “Why do I face so many hurdles while others get everything easily.” “Why is it always me?” I’m sure we’ve said similar statements at least once in our life. Some find it easy to divert themselves while others over think and get stuck. All of us know that gravity keeps us on the ground. But to propel a rocket and make it leave the Earth’s gravitational force, we require a force equal to the gravity but in the opposite direction. We achieve this force by moving at a very high velocity of 11km per second. This velocity is also called Escape velocity. In the same way, we need a similar force to free ourselves from the mental strain that keeps us locked up inside our head. We need our Escape velocity which can come from two sources – internal or external. Internal force drives you in whichever direction you want. Internal force includes the strong will power and a cool head in the heat of th...

Some of you might be aware of the term Zugzwang. For those of you who know it already, I ask you all to be patient while I give a brief explanation. Zugzwang is a German term related to the game of Chess. It means a situation wherein one player is in such circumstances that it is his turn to move and all his moves are bad, i.e., he will lose the game whichever way he moves. It sounds bad, right? I want you to give it a moment’s thought. You are stuck and there is no way towards victory. You are at a place where you are safe and staying there won’t make you lose. But can you stay stuck at that position forever? Let’s put it this way - only after that game is lost, only after that chapter is closed, you will have an opportunity to start a new game. With the new game you will have an opportunity to play once more. This time you are equipped with the knowledge about which moves will make you lose the game and to avoid those moves and try the new ones. This is one step closer to winni...