Oliver Burkeman

Survival in a life or death situation is completely circumstantial and unpredictable.Laurence Gonzales’s central idea about survival in his essay “Deep Survival” is that it requires a positive mental attitude. Gonzales supports this claim by stating “...only by researching and dissecting the mysterious quality..called positive attitude would [he] ever understand survival” (334). Gonzales has presented a correct definition of a positive mindset as the most important tool in survival.A positive mindset compels a person to stay calm,make rational decisions and prevent them from giving up.

For 54 days, Brian Robeson, was stranded on an island with only his knowledge, the clothes on his back, and his hatchet. In the book Hatchet, written by Gary Paulsen, Brian got stranded because the pilot of his plane had a heart attack. Not only did the pilot having the heart attack test Brian about what he knew about planes, but it also tested him on how much he knew about how to survive without the major necessities. “You are your most valuable asset. Don't forget that. You are the best thing you have.” (page 51). Brian had to take the words from his english teacher to help him get through the 54 days in the Canadian Wilderness. This is the power of positive thinking, after he got over the fact that he was stranded all alone, he used positive

Scientists have begun to realize that positive thinking can not only help during conflicts,but during everyday life. An article from the Huffington Post gives insight into this,”The benefits of positive emotions don’t stop after a few minutes of good feelings subside. In fact, the biggest benefit that positive emotions provide is an enhanced ability to build skills and develop resources for use later in life” (Clear). James Clear (taking insight for notable psychology experts) explains how positivity improves emotion and life quality. He also states that positivity is a useful resource in all social situations as well as

Throughout generations people believed that having positive visualizations can make situations better, but when you are in a situation that gives you a negative outcome you become devastated. In the essay “The Benefits of “Negative Visualization”’ Oliver Burkeman discussed how negative visualization is more likely to make people happier than positive visualization. Burkeman supported that negative visualization makes an individual happier rather than positive visualization; he supported this claim by describing how spending time and focusing how well things would go reduces one’s motivation to achieve their goal, having tranquility would give individuals the opportunity to focus on negative emotions, positive thinkers are less prepared and more acutely distressed, “negative visualization” causes less stress, and being prepared for the to the worse-case scenario helps establish what to expect. When using negative visualization, it would be beneficial to use it to prepare oneself for the worse-case scenarios and to reduce both fear and anxiety. In regards to Burkeman’s position, I can relate to the information he is presenting and apply it to my personal life. Therefore, I can strongly agree with his point of view that negative visualization is more likely to make an individual happier than positive visualization.

The son of a fireman and the brother of a hero, Michael Burke, a writer for the Wall Street Journal, exposed his feelings about the firemen and first responders that were not invited to the ten year anniversary of the September 11 disaster in his persuasive article: “No Firemen at Ground Zero This 9/11?” To assist him in persuading his audience, Burke used various techniques to prove that Mayor Bloomberg was unjust for not allowing the firemen and first responders to participate in honoring their deceased brothers and sisters. Burke utilized pathos, imagery, and organization to prove his point.

In Oliver Burkeman’s essay, “The Benefits of ‘Negative Visualization’”, he discusses how Negative Visualization is more likely to make people happier than positive visualization. Burkeman supports his argument by describing Ottogen’s experiment and how one spends more time in thinking how well things will go instead of achieving one’s goal due to one’s lack of motivation.

1. Background – Positive and negative beliefs play a major role in much of society’s thinking processes, decision-making, attitude and outlook on life. These beliefs contribute to trait

Thinking positively can be a difficult task, no matter the circumstance. When negativity fills you up like helium in a balloon you should always try to find the light in the darkness. Thinking positively doesn’t make the hard times disappear, it helps you survive negativity and the daily conflicts that challenge you. Looking on the bright side of things increases attentiveness, improves your ability to think, and leads to happier thoughts (Psychology Today). No matter what you are going through, you should always stay optimistic. “Man’s Search for Meaning” and “Dear Miss Breed” are great examples of how having a bright outlook can help you survive conflict.

For example, I attend college and I have to write this essay, struggling to get ideas out of my head. I always tell my parents that school is difficult and I want to quit college. They tell me this isn’t the right way to think of college, of course it will be tough, but it takes you to a better future. Without the knowledge of positive thinking, there would be so much negativity and people struggling to find definite answers to their own questions and concerns.

There are many different views on positive thinking whether it is to be positive all the time as suggested by the film The Secret, be a realist and don’t be delusional as stated by Barbara Ehrenreich in her speech “How Positive Thinking Undermines America”, or just be somewhere in between such as a person who is optimistic but not to the point where they expect something they want to come out of the blue, they have to work for it.

An article written by Barbara Enhrenreich – “The Power of Negative Thinking” was published in New York Times in September 2008, a hard time otherwise known economic collapse of the World. Enhrenreich writes that greed and speculation are the two phenomenon responsible for the crisis. Enhrenreich defines positive thinking at a time as a “delusional optimism”, effect of which was over exaggerated and overvalued, “Positive thinking is endemic to academic culture – from weight loss programs to cancer support groups – and in the last two decades it has put down deep roots in the corporate world as well.” (Enhrenreich 270) Most importantly, Enhrenreich claims that Americans were not “deluded optimists” in the past. Visualizing success in her opinion became the guiding tool of a time. As summarized by Peter Theil in his book Zero to One, Americans were in a state of definite optimism up to 1980. Later, it has turned into indefinite optimism where

Mr. Anchor points out how tests are measured to conform to the average person. He states that if you go above the norm your brain function changes and it will increase its goalpost. For example, he points out that if you get good grades you will strive to get better grades and if you get a good job you will then want to get a better job and so on. He states that at that point the level of happiness is pushed to the opposite side of success and they won’t ever meet. As a society we’ve trained ourselves to think that success will determine our happiness. We need to develop our brains to be positive in the present and it will increase our intelligence, creativity and energy levels. It will help employees perform better and be more productive. When brains are feeling negative a person’s performance is less and they feel stressed or neutral. He states we need to retrain our brains to be positive now. He conducted a study in a company he worked for in which he had the employees write down three new things they were thankful for everyday for 21 days. He states that at the end of that study, the employees had rewired their brains to look at the world and find the positive first before pointing out the negative. He found that random acts of kindness will improve the positive brain levels in others as it will

Abundant thinking is useful for multiple aspects of your everyday life. You can enjoy your good health and be grateful for it, and if you are suffering from some sort of ailment, you can seek comfort in the fact that it can always be worse. When sick, we can remember the good health we enjoyed throughout the past and the good health and fortune of those we care about most, being grateful for it all. It’s about perspective; looking on the bright side of life and seeing the positive rather than the negatives of our respective lots in life.

From an optimistic Grandmother 's encouragement over the holiday dinner table to famous motivational speakers, we are often told: dream big, imagine yourself frolicking on a sandy beach, taste and smell that elegant burgundy wine; all of these are in the grasp of your hand, if you just dream big and work hard. A general and well-accepted assumption is that positive thinking boosts one 's morale to somehow make one leap into action in rapid pursuit of a goal.

POSITIVE THINKING IS A MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL ATTITUDE THAT FOCUSES ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE AND EXPECTS POSTIVE RESULTS.