Licking the Razor's Edge (2015)

*Negativity intensifies what psychologists call “the negativity effect” – the tendency to
attribute the positive behaviors of another to their environment and the negative
behaviors of another to their inherent nature. This delusional method of judging others is
one of the main causes of prejudice & bigotry.
*Negativity is an “energy drain” on all of our relationships, causing the intimacy
necessary to sustain real Love to wither and fade. A University of Denver study showed
that the amount of negative feedback exchanged between married partners accurately
determined which of those couples would ultimately remain together and which of them
would ultimately dissolve their partnerships.
*Negativity encourages us to avoid taking responsibility for our own Happiness, and it
tempts us to feel powerless to do our own small-yet-significant part to make the world a
more Peace-full place. After all, if a person chooses to look for the “bad things” that keep
on happening no matter what he or she does, that person soon develops the belief that his
or her actions do not matter. A feeling of helplessness becomes entrenched in his or her
mind, a helplessness that soon crystallizes into apathy — and inaction.
RECOGNIZING your own NEGATIVITY ADDICTION
“We must learn an inner solitude wherever we are or with whomsoever we might be. We
must learn to penetrate all things and find the Divine that resides within.”
~ inspired by M. Eckhart
Addictions are mostly a subconscious, habitual response to pain or discomfort, which
means that combating these dysfunctional patterns requires making choices that are
conscious ones. As such, in order for us to free ourselves of any addiction, its underlying
behaviors must first be recognized. Quite logically, in order for us to consciously let a
behavior pattern go, we must first know what it is that needs releasing.
With this in mind, let’s take a few moments to see where negativity might have already
crept into our lives. Consider the following questions:
*Do you get upset when traffic delays you unexpectedly?
*Do you “hate” Mondays?
*Do you moan about the “bad weather” whenever it is cold or rainy or dreary?
*Do you get briefly angry whenever you bump your head or stub your toe?
*Do you get annoyed if someone jostles you in a crowd?
*Do you get upset when your waitress is slow or forgetful or mixes up your order?
*Do you gossip about your friends or enemies?
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