What's the best way to maintain a positive attitude?

blulotus29

?

Epicurus

Think positive. Speak positive. Read and watch positive. Listen and hear positive. Smell positive. Taste positive. Do positive. Surround yourself by positive influences, be it people, activities, physical environments or whatever.

Roger

Maybe this will be interesting and helpful: As far as keeping a positive attitude regarding other people's actions? Do what I do when the going gets rough: Imagine you are a doctor in a mental hospital. Don't take anything personally and try to help those who are struggling without you having any expectations.

Jeffrey

Attitude always changes. By sitting with it whatever it is unconditional friendliness towards yourself can arise. This is how your mind and awareness becomes not an attitude or thought. Attitudes come up like clouds passing through the sky but the nature of the sky is awareness. Like big vast space. Clarity openness and sensitivity.

One of the reasons to meditation is to see that your attitudes and you are not yourself and you don't need to get rid of some and keep others.

seeker242

To eliminate the things that cause a negative attitude.

blulotus29

To eliminate the things that cause a negative attitude.

so how do you eliminate sad, hopeless, bored thoughts?

aHappyNihilist

perfect your equanimity, lovingkindness, and energy.

blulotus29

perfect your equanimity, lovingkindness, and energy.

and how do you do that?

aHappyNihilist

lets go one at a time. most importantly probably equanimity.

Equanimity is the lack of attachment to preferred or aversion to un-preferred outcomes. It is the lack of grasping for things out of your reach. This is a tough one to understand. I've written 2 threads on it.

blulotus29

lets go one at a time. most importantly probably equanimity.

Equanimity is the lack of attachment to preferred or aversion to un-preferred outcomes. It is the lack of grasping for things out of your reach. This is a tough one to understand. I've written 2 threads on it.

lol might wanna make that 3 cause im lost lol

aHappyNihilist

Meh, ok. I like hearing myself talk.
I'll cheat and take some quotes from old posts though, one sec.

blulotus29

Meh, ok. I like hearing myself talk.
I'll cheat and take some quotes from old posts though, one sec.

lol ok
ty

kayte

If you get feeling down and negative- think of all that you have to be grateful for- the special people in your life, overcoming an obstacle, having the opportunity to study and grow. Think of how much more aware you are now and how far you can go in the future.

aHappyNihilist

Alrighty so basically, equanimity is the lack of craving and aversion. Once you know what craving and aversion are you can work on getting rid of em and having equanimity.

Craving is a mental straining toward a cause of pleasure. Aversion is a mental straining against a cause of pain. When we feel pleasure we create a craving towards it, craving in this sense means a straining towards your object of pleasure. Now this is not the same thing as preferring to have something. This is a sort of straining towards something always, no matter how far you are from getting it. You can crave many things; money, girls, status, power, even happiness. Equanimity is the sense that you might prefer something, but if you don't get it your not upset and if it is out of reach you don't strain for it.

From another thread:

The best way to explain it is by analogy.

Imagine that you are chained to a wall, go on imagine it. You are hungry and there is a bowl with some food out of your reach because of the chains. You know with 100% certainty that it is completely impossible to break loose from the chains without a key and that the key is out of your reach. Would you sit there, or would you strain against the chains constantly and painfully? Of course, you would sit there. In our lives we are bound by millions of little chains. We are bound by our physical bodies, we are bound by the will of others, we are bound by gravity, we are bound by our need for air, our need for food, millions of things. Craving is the useless straining against the chains.

blulotus29

If you get feeling down and negative- think of all that you have to be grateful for- the special people in your life, overcoming an obstacle, having the opportunity to study and grow. Think of how much more aware you are now and how far you can go in the future.

ty kayte

aHappyNihilist

I've got to go till tomorrow, but check out my explanation of equanimity above. it is a buddhist teaching that has had an extremely potent effect on my happiness. There are many other parts of buddhism but that is a very important one if not the most important one.

blulotus29

I've got to go till tomorrow, but check out my explanation of equanimity above. it is a buddhist teaching that has had an extremely potent effect on my happiness. There are many other parts of buddhism but that is a very important one if not the most important one.

thank you I will.

seeker242

To eliminate the things that cause a negative attitude.

so how do you eliminate sad, hopeless, bored thoughts?

You practice letting them go.