Test to see how much you've changed!

[vanessa202]

i love this and needed to read this today! Its good to be reminded on how far we have come

[kitten7]

I absolutely notice everyone ELSE'S negativity - but, I love them so very much I just want to lift them up up up... and bring them to this positive place. My BFF has been a Christian woman for over 40 years and it stuns me just how little faith she has... and the negativity she allows to soak up her life. But I keep trying.. cos I love her.. and I want her to come out with sunshining!!

[Tulip]

Yay! I'm glad this has helped everyone! From time to time even I need a reminder of my personal evolution, its like the spark that stops me from complaining, being ungrateful or losing faith

[Ginny]

I hope it's okay for me to say this, but some of these things make me a little uncomfortable. Judging from all the positive reactions to the original post, I'm sure this is meant in a much better way than I've taken it... so, since the error seems to be with me, I thought I'd post my feeling about this and see if you can point me back in the right direction. thanks in advance

When you think about past hurt (i.e. an ex leaving you) do you dwell on it still or immediately switch your thought to something else?

This is good, and I agree, I would take this as a sign of positive progress.

Do you notice when those around you are complaining or talking negatively?

This seems less good to me. Isn't it supposed to be that whatever you notice / focus on, you attract more of? So, if you are noticing more people talking negatively, this would seem to me to be a backward step.

Do you find yourself watching what you say, making sure its as positive as possible?

Um, again, I'm not sure I'm totally behind this. I think it's important to be true to yourself, and sometimes that means acknowledging a little negativity and forgiving yourself for it. If it's true that "what we resist persists", then surely resisting negativity will breed more?

Do you make the effort to smile more?

Yes! 

And I also remember to be grateful for every moment that I am happy. And to be grateful for every moment that I notice and appreciate good things in my life.

Do you want to appear more warm and friendly to others?

Yes!!! This is another good one - I like this one

Do you now ignore other people's stupidity and fail to pass judgement on them anymore?

I like the second half of this sentence, but the first half seems contradictory. If you've judged someone else's behaviour as "stupid", surely you've already passed judgement on it?

Do you find yourself walking away from arguments and not feeling provoked?

Yes. This is a good one.

Has any faith built in you? Even the smallest bit?

Yes

Do you consciously choose not to associate with depressing or angry people?

This was one of the ones I found to be less good. Maybe I am lucky, in that I do not know that many depressing or angry people. But in my ideal world, I would like to have the kind of inner strength and resilience to help bring people out of their depression, and to calm their anger, rather than shunning them.

Do you make decisions to enjoy events that you normally wouldn't enjoy?

Sometimes - and I also make decisions to do more of what I genuinely enjoy anyway.

It's a good list - it's just a few of the things that I wasn't entirely comfortable with.

[lise]

I guess it depends how you interpret the question. I can see that noticing other people talking negativily might not be a good thing. How I read it was that do you notice it and therefore avoid doing it yourself . If you don't notice it, it's easy to join in from anything from the weather, work issues, other people.

I guess it depends on your starting point, if you're generally a positive person than noticing negativity might be a bad thing but if you notice and avoid joining in another.

Same with the angry / depressing person. I think this possibly comes down to you just being a nicer person than me! If it was a friend then absolutely, I'd try to help and be there for them. If it was someone I dealt with a lot then maybe. Other than that erm I think I would prob just avoid them - probably not the nicest thing in the world. People can only effect you if you let them but I think I'm not yet at the stage where someone constantly being angry or moody wouldn't impact on my own mood and so avoiding them whilst not the most empathetic is prob what I'd do.

[Tulip]

Ginny I think you over-analysed the questions and applied it to your current state of mind.

Noticing someone is talking negatively is showing you raised levels of awareness. People would usually entertain the negativity but with heightened awareness, you make a conscious effort to not indulge in it yourself.

Noticing what you say and making it more positive is re-programming. Being true to yourself IS being a positive person, that is your birth right. Again, with heightened awareness you can alter your mind to think and speak positively.

You know when someone is being stupid right. In the past I used to, for example, indirectly tweet about them because they're behavior annoyed me. Now, when I see these people saying something of a negative manner I dont feel any emotion toward it and find myself wishing them well and hoping they will find peace.

Associating with depressing people, again, this is from my own experience and changes I noticed in myself- I was around people who laughed at my dreams, always talked negatively about people they didnt even know. I was sucked into the bitchyness and became a bully. Some of these friends I tried to help but after a while I though 'wait- I'm not these girls babysitters- they are grown women!' I like to indulge in the company of people who do not gossip or bring me or others down.

Hope this clarifies the questions for you!

[Ginny]

I'm sure you're both right.

I also probably have a bit of baggage that I need to work on: I grew up in an LOA household (more than 40 years ago - it was popular even then!) and we used to get punished if we weren't positive enough. It had the opposite effect to what she intended, as it made me hate everything LOA until I re-discovered it a few years ago (and decided to apply the same principles, but put in a great big dose of Buddhist compassion on top).

Just my thoughts. I know everyone isn't like my mother, but I thought it might be worth saying something in case it gives someone a different perspective.

[JustForToday]

ginny!!

a loa household? WOW, i would really like to know more about that.
i cant imagine how it was....
after rediscovering it- did you need to learn all new? or was it a big benefit that you were grown up this way?

[Tulip]

I think its human nature to reject beliefs that are forced on you. You have to choose to believe them on your own, which I think your beginning to do now!

[Ginny]

I've believed in it for a few years now. My life has been transformed.

Crazysoul, I'll pm you - short version is that it wasn't a benefit, as my mother had a lot of psychological problemsand a lot of anger, and so her application of LOA was a bit ...amiss. I don't blame her or hold any resentment towards her - she had a lot of problems and was doing the best she could, like we all do. But being taught LOA by her was a bit like being taught how to paint portraits by a blind person.