In Going Long, an encyclopedic guide to training and racing full ironman distance races, Joe Friel and Gordon Byrn devote a whole chapter to the importance of positive thinking and self-talk. The importance of a positive mindset for any endeavor is summed up as follows: "Mentally strong athletes understand that the body will follow where the mind leads, and they are careful where they lead their minds."
A friend of mine once argued that the power of positive thinking is a sham He said that when we ignore the negative, we abandon the power to confront it, and he equated positive thinking as fantasy and illusion. I think his argument misunderstood what positive thinking really means. I was at a loss to explain it in a way that made sense until I came across the Buddhist principle of "ahimsa" -- do no harm. While often expressed as non-violence to all living things, ahimsa goes deeper than non-violence in words and actions, but rather extends to non-violence in one's thoughts as well.
Ahimsa and healthy choices
Ahimsa is easier to apply to our fitness goals by expressing it in the affirmative instead of the negative -- instead of "no violence" it can mean "make healthy choices", which starts with healthy thinking, which, in turn, increases the likelihood that we make healthy choices in our words and in our actions. Looked at through that lens, "positive thinking" is really "healthy thinking" but as a conscious choice. Said like that, its implications on our commitment to staying active is much clearer.
Friel and Byrn divide positive thinking into thought, speech and writing, saying that controlling what we write is easiest, since writing is a deliberate act, while controlling our thoughts is hardest. My experience has been entirely consistent with that. For example, regular exercise became a habit in 2016, which led to finishing a stretchy goal I had set for myself. But all it took to start derailing me this year was a series of minor injuries, which started tearing down the positive thinking that was instrumental to achieving my goals in 2016. Without consistent awareness of our negative thoughts it takes surprisingly small amounts of adversity that, given some time, threaten to derail our positive thoughts. Then the eve-present negative thoughts, words and actions have fertile ground in which to grow.
Thoughts, words and actions are a hierarchy of our inner life that operate as a powerful force that shapes the life we live. Buddha said: “The thought manifests as the word; The word manifests as the deed; The deed develops into habit; And habit hardens into character. So watch the thought and its ways with care, and let it spring from love born out of concern for all beings… as we think, so we become.”
Which brings me back to ahimsa and the power of positive thinking. In my view, positive thinking does not mean denying or ignoring the negative or looking for silver linings (as my friend alleged). It means acknowledging and respecting the negative for what it has to teach us, but then choosing to approach the world with an attitude of appreciation for the abundance that we have in our lives and a positive focus on the only thing we can control: our self.
Scarcity and abundance at the inception of our thinking paradigm
Negative thinking begins with an emotional attitude of scarcity. Left unexamined, we tend to focus our attention on what we lack: what we do not have, or have but want more of, or the love and affection that we feel we lack. Scarcity is a sad and lonely place. Positive thinking, on the other hand, begins with an emotional attitude of abundance. We can choose to acknowledge the scarcity that is making us unhappy and respect the lessons that brings but, instead of dwelling there, we can choose to shift our focus to all that we have: the people who love us and help us, the beauty that surrounds us and the infinite opportunities that we have, big and small, to help make life better for us and those around us. Scarcity and abundance exist in the same space and the same time and around the same themes. Where we place our focus determines which will maintain long-term power over our thoughts and, therefore, our lives.
Focus on abundance leads to healthy choices
The positive thoughts and the emotional attitude of abundance, when chosen deliberately, leads naturally to a practice of ahimsa -- we can consistently make healthier choices and thus generate more happiness for ourselves and, by extension, for others. Choosing to embrace a practice of healthier thinking can give us the opportunity to choose healthier foods, healthier activities, and healthier relationships that serve our best interest. It can help affirm our inner wisdom that we alone know what is best for us and gives us clarity in the choices that will favor the good and result in less space for thw bad. As a practice, this creates fertile ground on which to decrease suffering and increase happiness.
Do no harm, make healthy choices, and embrace abundance wherever it exists
Personally, I have found it surprising how quickly momentum can build when we make a consecutive series of small, healthy changes. I saw it when I faced my own serious health crisis two years ago. Within 18 months of consecutive small changes (along with a lot of help and guidance from some very good people), I accomplished more than I ever thought possible for myself. As for the positive thinking and ahimsa -- after a series of minor but debilitating injuries this year a lot of my plans for the year were dashed. That caused me quite a lot of despair at times and it was a struggle to maintain a healthy and positive attitude in the face of those ongoing setbacks. I tried to build up my spirit the same way I tried last year to build up my body (once again, with generous help from some very good people). I took little steps, one step at a time.
So if things are going well for you and you are still reading these posts, perhaps you will choose to spend a few minutes thinking about starting a practice of your own. Perhaps just reading about the practice has already started to allow a few seeds of positive thinking to take root. If, however, things are stressful and dark and difficult, even the smallest amount of effort can seem impossible. This is, however, when changing our thoughts is most critically important. So just take little steps, one step at a time. That is often all we can do. But the good news is that it turns out to be plenty.