#4 Positivity vs Optimism

What this episode covers

We talked last about toxic positivity, and I encouraged you notice the thoughts and feelings that come up when you reflect on this concept - and I did the same. I thought about my nature of being a realist, and whether in a world often fixated on feeling good, my perspective just brings people down and detracts from their desire to feel happy. And I sat for a while just pondering that, and to be perfectly honest, it wasn’t the most comfortable space to sit in. (Pause) But if there’s one thing I’ve learned through lots of therapy it’s that growth happens in precisely those spaces – the uncomfortable ones. And as I grappled within myself, I remembered something I learned a while back, which is: that being perpetually positive isn’t the same thing as being hopeful or optimistic.

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