The Ripple Effect of One Positive Thought

Do you know Questlove?

You may have seen him on Jimmy Fallon’s show where he’s the drummer/front man of the house band.

He’s also a music producer and latterly a documentary maker.

He was on 6 Music at the weekend talking about his latest film on ‘Earth Wind and Fire’.

Discussing their impact he said, ‘the lyrics tricked you into positive affirmation’.

‘...you start singing the lyrics and there’s an osmosis effect of positivity that gets you...’

I used to be skeptical about positive thinking.

Partly that it felt un-British (and un-Italian for that matter) and could verge into toxicity and partly because it didn’t feel like ‘reality’ to me.

The reality was that things could go wrong and I needed to be cautious of traps and pitfalls.

But the reality is also that things could go well and I need to be conscious of opportunities and benefits.

I'd been treating caution as realism and positivity as fantasy, when both are really just guesses about a future that hasn't happened yet.

Neither is provable.

And if you’re going to make a guess either way, do you choose the one that sends you in weighed down and braced for failure or one that sends you in standing a little taller and feeling a little lighter?

If I’m going to tell myself a story, I choose the one that makes me look forward to what’s ahead.

The Ripple Effect of One Positive Thought