Positive Thinking, Self-perception and Politicans
July 30th 2008 03:37
Politicians are pretty good at looking at issues through a certain set of glasses. If they’re members of the ruling party, they see government policy through rosy glasses. They praise the good that they’ve done and the good that they’re going to do. Admittedly, they can admit mistakes that the government has made. But when they do, it is always with the ability to see beyond those mistakes and look to what the government is now doing to fix them.
Politicians on the opposite side see things a bit differently. Using the same facts, they can present a completely different view. When the government does things badly, they are quick to point this out and magnify any wrongdoing. When the government is doing the right thing, they were too slow to address the issues and they are addressing them in the wrong way.
When people think or talk about their life, they can be a bit like politicians. There are those who think as though they were on the ruling side of politics. They see their life in glowing terms. They emphasise what they have done right and minimise what they have done wrong. They are proud of the steps they are taking to address any problems and are confident that they are going in the right direction.
Then there are those who approach their lives as if they were members of the opposition. Faults, wrong choices and bad decisions are blown out of all proportion. Even when they do something good, they find something in it to criticise. They may as well be holding a big sign over their head saying “Vote for the other party. I’m not good enough.”
I’ll be honest here and say I look at life more like an opposition leader. I concentrated on my failings. My achievements were played down. Whenever anybody said anything good about me, I would find the negative side to that. I thought I was being realistic. But as any good politician knows, there are different ways to look at reality.
I think I shied away from too much positive thinking, because it didn’t seem real. And I still think that positive thinking that goes over the top is just being unrealistic. Those people who are always happy and everything is always wonderful kind of annoy me. They seem fake. I don’t like fakeness, in myself or others. But was my approach really any more realistic that those always happy, everything is wonderful people? I don’t think so.
If I was the leader of the opposition and what I said about myself I was really saying about the government of the day, the media would pull me up big time. I would be criticised for exaggerating the truth. I would be ridiculed for refusing to admit any good thing that the government has done. Even setting these things aside, it is not realistic to approach life from this point of view. It’s not my goal to make people vote for the other party.
Instead, I need to start approaching life more as the ruling government of the day. Not in terms of a happy, everything is wonderful kind of approach. Lying and exaggerating the truth doesn’t go well, whichever side of politics you are on. But be proud of the things I have achieved. Be confident of what I can do. And when I have problems – as we all do – admit them and take steps to solve them.
As a side note, I was in church on Sunday and the sermon was about how God doesn’t condemn us. You know, I think I sometimes thought of God as being a leader of the opposition – ready to point out my faults and show me why I wasn’t good enough. But he’s not like that at all. He’s on my side. I think he’s a bit more like a political advisor. He’s ready to acknowledge any good that I’ve done, while also seeing that there is far more good that I can do. He points out my faults with the goal of helping me change them. But in the end, he thinks that I’m worth voting for.
Politicians on the opposite side see things a bit differently. Using the same facts, they can present a completely different view. When the government does things badly, they are quick to point this out and magnify any wrongdoing. When the government is doing the right thing, they were too slow to address the issues and they are addressing them in the wrong way.
When people think or talk about their life, they can be a bit like politicians. There are those who think as though they were on the ruling side of politics. They see their life in glowing terms. They emphasise what they have done right and minimise what they have done wrong. They are proud of the steps they are taking to address any problems and are confident that they are going in the right direction.
Then there are those who approach their lives as if they were members of the opposition. Faults, wrong choices and bad decisions are blown out of all proportion. Even when they do something good, they find something in it to criticise. They may as well be holding a big sign over their head saying “Vote for the other party. I’m not good enough.”
I’ll be honest here and say I look at life more like an opposition leader. I concentrated on my failings. My achievements were played down. Whenever anybody said anything good about me, I would find the negative side to that. I thought I was being realistic. But as any good politician knows, there are different ways to look at reality.
I think I shied away from too much positive thinking, because it didn’t seem real. And I still think that positive thinking that goes over the top is just being unrealistic. Those people who are always happy and everything is always wonderful kind of annoy me. They seem fake. I don’t like fakeness, in myself or others. But was my approach really any more realistic that those always happy, everything is wonderful people? I don’t think so.
If I was the leader of the opposition and what I said about myself I was really saying about the government of the day, the media would pull me up big time. I would be criticised for exaggerating the truth. I would be ridiculed for refusing to admit any good thing that the government has done. Even setting these things aside, it is not realistic to approach life from this point of view. It’s not my goal to make people vote for the other party.
Instead, I need to start approaching life more as the ruling government of the day. Not in terms of a happy, everything is wonderful kind of approach. Lying and exaggerating the truth doesn’t go well, whichever side of politics you are on. But be proud of the things I have achieved. Be confident of what I can do. And when I have problems – as we all do – admit them and take steps to solve them.
As a side note, I was in church on Sunday and the sermon was about how God doesn’t condemn us. You know, I think I sometimes thought of God as being a leader of the opposition – ready to point out my faults and show me why I wasn’t good enough. But he’s not like that at all. He’s on my side. I think he’s a bit more like a political advisor. He’s ready to acknowledge any good that I’ve done, while also seeing that there is far more good that I can do. He points out my faults with the goal of helping me change them. But in the end, he thinks that I’m worth voting for.
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Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
On a side note, a friend and I took online personality tests once. We each answered the questions honestly and found the results were pretty acurate. So we decided to create the biggest jerk we could imagine. Everything about the character was so different from both of us, we wondered how the analysis would turn out. The results came back. I kid you not! Politician! LOL
Comment by samaritan
Fringe Faith
Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief