We have been conditioned into seeing the positives and negatives of life as incompatible, as good and bad or even good and evil.
In this post we explore how positive and negative are fundamental to everything that exists, complementary aspects of a perfectly balanced life.
[box type=\”shadow\”]“When we focus and bring our minds to perfect symmetry, the inner world is birthed – an inner attention, an inner presence. Magical things occur: Genius is awakened, art is created, and inspirational writing pours forth.”
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The Beauty of Balance (continued)
Vibrational systems
We’ve traditionally been taught that we (and everything else for that matter) are made up of molecules, which in turn are made up of atoms.
Relatively recent scientific research has turned up the fact that it doesn’t stop there. Atoms are made up of sub atomic particles including electrons and quarks and even the recently discovered ‘Higgs Boson’ particle.
But further research into what makes up subatomic particles has revealed that when you delve into the subatomic world, particles start to behave like energy waves.
Depending on which type of experiment is used, light, or any other type of particle, will behave either like a particle or like a wave.
The physical body then, is made up of minute energy fields comprised of waves or vibrations. We are, quite simply, vibrational systems.
You have to wonder whether this revelation is something that we have known, instinctively all along. Why else would we have incorporated into our language sayings like “I’m picking up strange vibes from him,” or “She’s giving off the right vibes,” or “Are you on the same wavelength as me?”
Positive and negative coexist
Waves may have different lengths, heights or speeds but essentially they all look like the one shown in the diagram below, with its characteristic peaks and troughs, also commonly referred to as positive and negative aspects.
So, if everything is made up of waves with their positive and negative aspects then everything in our world is either positive or negative. Both polarities are inherent in our lives. Both must exist at the same time.
Our experience of life in general derives from both positive and negative situations and events. You cannot have one without the other.
Our emotions are our responses to our circumstances and experiences and these too are both positive and negative. Just as life cannot be made up only of positive experiences, we cannot only have positive emotions (if we did, how would we know that they were positive?)
Positive thinking … or empowered thinking?
In life coaching we talk a lot about positive thinking and living with a positive mindset but we do this partly in order to address the general focus on the negative that has become such a part of everyday life and partly to encourage a more empowered and upbeat approach towards life’s challenges.
Destructive or constructive?
Nevertheless, the truth is that you cannot live life as a ‘hero’ by trying to pretend that the negative does not exist. Doing so is a bit like trying to contain other emotions like anger and resentment. Eventually, the pressure cooker will explode.
Likewise, adopting a \’victim\’ mentality and proclaiming that nothing about your life is positive, will eventually result in self destruction, either through destructive behaviours or through the effect on your emotional and physical health.
The answer is to lead a constructive life by embracing both positive and negative, but in a way that serves you and what you want from life.
Redefining ‘positive’ and ‘negative’
The challenge comes in redefining what we understand or perceive by the terms \’positive\’ and \’negative\’ when we refer to experiences in our lives.
Instead of labelling everything as either good (we enjoy the experience) or bad (we don’t enjoy the experience) we need to see both types of experience as opposite yet complementary. In other words, pleasurable experiences and growth cannot come about without challenging experiences that may be relatively ‘painful’ in nature.
Perfect balance
As we start to appreciate and embrace the fact that both polarities must coexist, we can start to experience the perfect balance that positive and negative, together – when viewed as a system – represent.
Light and Love
A light wave does indeed have positive and negative aspects, but the end product of the harmonious balance between these two aspects is something that is true perfection … LIGHT!
Light is essential for life. Without light, life cannot grow and be sustained. Light, birthed as it is from the perfect balance of positive and negative, provides a role model for a life of joy and happiness.
It is important to acknowledge life’s perfection by embracing both its positive and negative aspects.
Life, when we are able to experience it as a harmonious balance between positive and negative is … pure, unconditional LOVE.
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Thank You Bill.
Bill, please explain the difference between Value and Virtue. Thanks!
A virtue is a behaviour that shows high moral standards (normally as judged by others)
A value is something (think of it as a state of being) that is really important to you to experience or live in accordance with.
Quite different really 🙂
Thank you Bill, and thank you everyone else for the added similarities of extra information to the blog. Neal Donald Welsh too sums it up in his books 1, 2 and 3 of “Conversations with God” which rounds it all up. I am highly convinced. I will look for the other books mentioned here.
Once again. Thanks to all.
Hi Bill. Wow, loved your post. Thank you
Good to hear from you again Gavin. Glad you liked it 🙂
Thanks Bill. Enjoyed the good post.
The power of energy is never ending!
Thanks Jack!
Thank you Bill for another inspiring blog. I too am reading a book which it ties into nicely called the Untethered Soul by Michael Singer. He is also a co-founder of the Institute of Noetic Science which research and study just that – the wavelengths of thoughts and the interaction between humans on a vibrational level. Fascinating.
You’re welcome Lynne.
Excellent post, i loved it as well Bill! And it ties right in with Mindfulness which is training in exactly that capacity. The ability to receive everything on the same terms, without preference. Acceptance in this way, is an extraordinary attitude to cultivate.
Thanks Tania!
This is the best blog post that you have ever written, in my opinion, Bill. It ties in with the book I am currently re- reading by my favourite author, the late Dr Wayne W. Dyer, called, “There is a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem.”
That’s high praise indeed – thank you Karen 🙂
Jenni went to see Wayne Dyer at a show he gave in New Zealand literally a day or two before he died. He was a great writer and a great man! My favourite quote is one of his:
“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change.”