"The Power of Positive Thinking" explained by Norman Vincent Peale as early as in 1952 in his book of the same name has gained momentum and peaked over the years. I have also been an advocate of the "Law of Attraction".
However, attending a webinar on the occasion of the " World Mental Health Day" opened my eyes to the fact that it is not only unfair but cruel to ask a person facing mental health issues to think positive. This awareness triggered the writing of this poem. I recited the poem at the 6th Dignar online International poetry Fest on 28th March 2021.
"Positivity, positivity, positivity
Hey come on guys, be positive
eat positivity, drink positivity, breathe positivity! "
"Hold on, hold on, hold on
you can't force this down my throat
holding a machine gun against my head!"
"It takes time dude, can't jump straight from negativity
a normal these days, to positivity!
Give me time to acknowledge my feelings
of negativity, anxiety, fear, despair
then, when I am ready, I will
journey to your side.... "
"Till such time, leave me alone friend
impatience and insistence
gets one nowhere- At most, it can create an outer facade
of everything being alright, while things are worse inside
like a half baked bread, appears fine to the eye
but not edible enough to eat! "
You could have posted this to Indispire ЁЯШЕ
ReplyDeleteOh I did not know Indispire had a similar topic. Normally, I write what comes to mind and do not look for the prompts.
DeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts Mridula!
ReplyDeleteI agree in toto. Let the people who are fond of preaching all and sundry (with or without a reason, considering themselves as Uncle Agony or Aunt Agony) also understand the essence of your post as well as the poem.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jitendra. So happy you related to the post and liked it.
ReplyDelete