Positive Action

By Elder George

Most media activity focuses on the negative aspects of any subject covered. It causes us to become aware of the shortcomings of political candidates, athletes, movies, the educational system, international relations, and the health of our nation. We tend to blame the media for this condition, but in fairness to the media, it represents the thinking of people, which I have read consists of positive thoughts 10% of the time and negative thoughts 90% of the time.

I have not seen proof of that statistic, but a reflection on the way we speak and act tends to confirm it. Mother’s say to their children “now don’t catch a cold.” How can anyone not catch a cold? We can dress warm enough, but we can’t “not” do anything. We can cross the street safely but we can’t “not” get hit by a car. We can’t “not” become poor, sick, tired or unemployed. We can save our money, be healthy, rest enough, and have a job. We can only do positives. A negative lacks action—it cannot be done.

The original basis of our legal system “innocent until proven guilty” required the proof of an action. One cannot prove that a gun wasn’t fired or that a crime was not committed. The prosecution must prove that the gun was fired and that a crime was committed. Unfortunately the courts have begun to drift in the direction of proof that something did not happen in response to the negative thinking of our society.

To succeed in any one endeavor requires positive thought, goals, and objectives. People who do not accomplish have no goals; they do what they have to do to survive and then complain about what they do not have. Their lives become one of happenstance; instead of acting on the stage of life they become reactors.

The trait of receptivity has permeated our society and we look upon government to provide our every need. We want universal health care, a right to housing, a right to an education, and cradle to grave security. This thinking makes of the government a god, and of people, its slaves.

To not get sick we must focus on living a healthy lifestyle, to not be unhappy requires focusing on happy thoughts, and to not become enslaved requires doing for ourselves and for others.

Granted pointing out negatives frequently provides the basis for corrective action; however, these negatives occurred because sometime back the positives necessary to prevent these negatives did not occur.

Spiritual teachings promote right action. They teach us to pray, to share our wealth, to love our brothers, to do good. These directives call for action.  Moses (as), Jesus (as), Muhammad (s), and all the prophets lived lives of action and called on the people for action. One cannot not do evil, one can do good. One can walk in the light; one cannot avoid the darkness, which is the absence of light. We can only actively be positive. We cannot actively avoid a negative.

If we live our lives assertively within our understanding of the truth we will be bringing goodness into this world. God has shared his beneficence with us, and it is our duty to share our knowledge and wealth—both of which came from God—with our fellow men and women.

That’s positive.

Elder George’s website is www.mensaction.net and he can be reached at 212-874-7900 ext. 1329.

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