How far can posative thinking take you?

charver said:
Should one think positive when going for the results of an HIV test?
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It appears it might change the result. But those I know, would never take the test, they would just assume there is no way they have AIDS.
 
Jarod said:
It appears it might change the result. But those I know, would never take the test, they would just assume there is no way they have AIDS.
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I think you are thinking about the sack over the head , ignore reality type of optimists.
 
Jarod said:
It seems to work for many people I know. Remember I live in Palm Beach.
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There are idiots on both sides of this. There are pessimists who would think they are going to die anyway, why bother with treatment or even diagnosis.


I think, Jarod, that you are confusing lunacy with optimism. Your outlook is yours to control. In fact, its one of the very few things you CAN control.
 
Solitary said:
There are idiots on both sides of this. There are pessimists who would think they are going to die anyway, why bother with treatment or even diagnosis.


I think, Jarod, that you are confusing lunacy with optimism. Your outlook is yours to control. In fact, its one of the very few things you CAN control.
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I understand I can control it, but at what point am I just denying reality? At what point am I being a lunatic?
 
Jarod said:
I understand I can control it, but at what point am I just denying reality? At what point am I being a lunatic?
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I don't think you have to deny reality to be an optimist. Its just a matter of what you focus on, the best or the worst.
 
Solitary said:
I don't think you have to deny reality to be an optimist. Its just a matter of what you focus on, the best or the worst.
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But is that not pretending the worst does not exist?

So when my father died, I should have focused on the fact that I would be saving 42 cents on christmas card postage every year?
 
Solitary said:
I don't think you have to deny reality to be an optimist. Its just a matter of what you focus on, the best or the worst.
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True, but the seperation of reality from attitude requires intelligent thought.
All to many are sheeple and have no real personal opinion, they think as they are led.

Like those that kept saying the economy was still great when it was slipping down the toilet were not thinking rationally.
 
Jarod said:
Real example, I had a case that I thought was unwinable. I still worked very hard on it, I prepped the hell out of it. I was told when I pled with those who make the decisions to settle the case that I was being too negative. I was told that there was no way I would win unless I was more posative about it.

No matter how hard I tried I could not belive we were going to win. I did a great job on the trial, hit every point and prepared for every bit.... Alas, We lost. It seems those who were telling me to be positave belive its my fault for having not thought posative enough.
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Thats a hard call.

The case may not be winnable in the rational world but people are not rational. Maybe they felt a feeling that YOU believed would have transfered to the Jury or Judge and tilted the balance. They could very well be wrong but it could not have hurt. The rub is how do you convince yourself of something that makes no sense in your own mind. Maybe they were just asking too much of your credulity.
 
Jarod said:
But is that not pretending the worst does not exist?

So when my father died, I should have focused on the fact that I would be saving 42 cents on christmas card postage every year?
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No, that is not it at all. Positive thinking does not mean that you ignore reality and it doesn't mean that there will never be any bad times.

But looking at the worst and expecting the worst is self-defeating. The world is always grey, and when its not you are just waiting for it to be grey again. That is no way to live.
 
Desh said:
Thats a hard call.

The case may not be winnable in the rational world but people are not rational. Maybe they felt a feeling that YOU believed would have transfered to the Jury or Judge and tilted the balance. They could very well be wrong but it could not have hurt. The rub is how do you convince yourself of something that makes no sense in your own mind. Maybe they were just asking too much of your credulity.
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I understand the point, its hard to be convencing when you dont belive in something in the first place. But what do you do when you truely belive that the goal is clearly unrealistic.
 
Take acting lessons.

I found that in the area of acting (did a little in high school) putting myself in the mindframe of the character I was playing made it easy to cry or whatever was required of the character. Empathy and not pretending it is where real acting comes from.

There is nothing wrong with a lawyer taking on that position from my standpoint. They are doing their best to represent a person. It is their job to be the top advocate for their client. Doing your job to the best of your abilities is a possitive thing. The court system works best when everyone gets the best possible representation.
 
Desh said:
Take acting lessons.

I found that in the area of acting (did a little in high school) putting myself in the mindframe of the character I was playing made it easy to cry or whatever was required of the character. Empathy and not pretending it is where real acting comes from.

There is nothing wrong with a lawyer taking on that position from my standpoint. They are doing their best to represent a person. It is their job to be the top advocate for their client. Doing your job to the best of your abilities is a possitive thing. The court system works best when everyone gets the best possible representation.
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I dont belive that the best possable representation is to pretend the problems with you case do not exist.
 
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