I Hear This Complaint A Lot
People tell me that they don’t want to do The Work because it has to do with negativity. Their understanding is that if they focus on negativity it will grow.
I understand this point of view, and I agree with it. We’ve all watched a negative person drag the conversation down. And we’ve all brought ourselves down by focusing first on one thing wrong, and then another, and then another.
Like begets like, and focusing on negativity generally leads to a downward spiral.
So What About The Work?
Doesn’t The Work focus on negativity?
After all, we’re writing Judge-Your-Neighbor Worksheets, and listing stressful thoughts when we do The Work. In fact, we actually go out looking for stressful thoughts when we do The Work.
Isn’t that the same as focusing on negativity? Couldn’t this be leading us down a dangerous path? A path into the downward spiral?
Actually, no.
The Work Is the Opposite of the Downward Spiral
People who do The Work experience lightness, and more openheartedness. Forgiveness seems to grow through The Work. And most importantly peace of mind.
How can we explain this seemingly contradictory experience? It’s not that difficult if we look a little closer.
First of All, The Work Does Start With Negativity
But that’s just the starting point.
What The Work does with that negativity is the difference. The Work starts with negative thoughts and then invites us to turn them around, and find examples of the turnarounds. This creates momentum in the positive direction.
Through this practice, situations which were seen to be negative are found to be not so negative after all. In this way, The Work is actually nothing but a way for you to find the optimist in you.
Start with anything. It doesn’t matter how stressful it may seem. The Work can help you see a the way out of that stress. So yes, The Work deals with negativity. But it is very different than just dwelling on negativity. The work is not about making yourself feel miserable. It is a way to transform negativity into something beautiful, an open mind.
And Consider the Alternative
Let’s say you don’t use The Work to transform negativity into positivity. Then what are your options?
1. You can go into complain mode, and get stuck in the mire. Not a nice option.
2. You can look the other way, and hope the negativity will go away. But this is not a nice option either. It’s called denial. And like all things that suck away life, negativity thrives best in the dark. So if you really want negativity to grow, just start pushing it away, and pretending everything is fine. That’s a fertile bed for fear and stress to live.
3. The only way left, that I know of, is to face the negativity with a tool strong enough to transform it. Come out of denial by writing a Judge-Your-Neighbor Worksheet. And then come out of that mired thinking by questioning what you wrote and turning it around.
The Work brings the light of awareness to any negative situation. As the light is brought in, darkness simply evaporates, and there’s nothing left to mire in.
Start the New School Year with More Awareness
Give yourself the gift of inquiry this fall. Join us for one of three ways to do The Work as a daily practice online. Come experience the power of the group in Slow-Cook Inquiry, Steady Pace Inquiry or The Daily Worksheet.
August 30 is the last day to register. So sign-up today.
Have a great week,
Todd
