What IS Positive Energy? Part 7: Hyper-Positive Posturing, Part 2
Hyper-positive behavior, based on either/or thinking (See part 2) is not actually positive. What I am talking about is acting as if strident denial of anything that can remotely be considered negative is spiritual, perhaps seeking to impose this view on others. Resisting negativity or making a big show to others about how to be more positive is reactive posturing. It is also annoying.
Hyper-Positive behaviors involve the third definition of positive as “certain.” They involve over-certainty, which becomes rigid.
A hyper-positive stance is a generally a defensive stance. Hyper-positive posturing defends against emotions the individual fears will overtake them, plunging them into unmanageable states. It is a means of control.
There is always something fishy about excess conviction. Something is driving it. I am not talking about solid inner knowing. Experience-based understanding is a lovely achievement. I am talking about rigidity of belief, bolstered by resisting something perceived as a threat, something inside, or in the world.
These following issues are not exclusive to but can be aggravated by a hyper-positive stance:
- Fear of your own thoughts and feelings
- Suppression and denial
- Fear or judgment of anyone who does not uphold similar viewpoints
- Veiled moralistic superiority over persons considered negative
- Lack of integration
- Perfectionism
- Harsh self-judgment when compassion is called for
- Lack of discernment for fear of thinking the wrong things
- Being out of touch with personal motivations
- Inability to realistically assess risks
- Use of platitudes that bolster parroted beliefs instead of observing life directly and allowing meaning to occur as an organic experience from within
- Habitual over-commitment with less than optimal follow through
- Making assumptions about what events mean without tapping into actual intuitive perception
- Deciding what things mean for other people, which is a boundary invasion
Different personalities will express different clusters of these patterns. Very few exhibit them all.
Experiencing painful or difficult emotions is human, not negative. Judging and condemning them IS.
Looking at risks realistically is not negative. Refusal to acknowledge risks may leave you unprepared to overcome them.
If you are intuitive and sensitive, it’s especially easy to feel shame if you are around hyper-positive posturing. Sensitive people often feel the shame that others suppress, and mistake it for our own. Take care not to get drawn in and feel like you’re a negative person if you spend time around someone with a hyper-positive stance.
What have you observed and experienced hyper-positive states, in yourself, or in others?
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