I believe for all of us, though we may be one of those few people who actually attempts to live a life based upon positivity and goodness, we are seemingly constantly surround by element of negativity. I mean, all we have to do is look at the news and we see all kinds of negativity taking place all around us. “No news is good news,” as the old saying goes.
 
But, if we are walking a life path of positivity, then who is that walking the road of negativity?
 
That’s a complicated question, I get it. But, what the essence of all of this comes down to is, what positivity are you personally living, what negativity are you personally living, and how do you meet negativity with positivity? Because let’s face facts, all life, all of your life, and all that you encounter while living your life, begins and ends with you and what you do.
 
I imagine we all have encountered various forms of negativity as we have passed through our life. There are the obvious ones like having violence unleashed upon us, having things stolen from us, being insulted, being lied to, being threatened, being backstabbed, being cheated, and the list goes on. But, the bigger question is, what negativity have you unleashed?
 
This is a subject that many people do not want to truly study. I mean, just look at what takes place in all of our societies. There are some people who do very bad things. Do they have their reasons for doing them? Yes. Are their reasons valid? Maybe they are to them. But, does that make them right and just? No, not at all. For if someone is hurt, someone is hurt. Full stop.
 
On the other side of the coin, there are those people who do something negative believing that something good will come out of it. You see this all the time, people insulting, criticizing, harshly judging other people; maybe even unleashing physical violence against them or breaking or stealing something from them.
 
The fact is, however, people trying to hurt someone else, in whatever form that may take, simply because they do not like or do not agree with that individual only creates a world based in negativity. From this behavior, other people may join into the fray and take part in the what is negative. But, is this style of behavior and action ever truly constructive? No. It does not solve any problems that may exist. It only amplifies the negativity and provides people that thrive on this mindset with fuel for their fire of their underdeveloped human consciousness.
 
To take this discussion into a more scriptural-based framework, for example, the Hindu scriptures provide detailed guidance on the consequences of negative behavior and the virtues of why one should not cultivate this life pattern. The Bhagavad Gita, one of Hinduism’s central texts, emphasizes the importance of self-control, truthfulness, kindness, and compassion. For instance, the Gita describes the divine qualities, known as, “Daivi Sampad,” in Sanskrit, such as non-violence, honesty, and empathy, and contrasts them with demonic qualities, “Asuri Sampad,” like anger, pride, hurtful behavior and deceit, warning that the latter lead to suffering and a spiritual downfall.
 
Similarly, the Upanishads encourage the pursuit of truth and righteousness, suggesting that negative actions create negative karma, which can affect both this life and future lives. The Laws of Manu, “Manusmriti,” in these scriptures, lays out moral codes for conduct, underscoring the value of self-restraint while highlighting the repercussions of and due to harmful deeds unleashed onto others.
 
Across these scriptures, Hinduism encourages individuals to recognize their faults, seek self-improvement, and practice virtues that foster harmony and positivity within oneself and with others, while never embracing any actions that are harmful to others, no matter what the individual’s motivation may be. Embracing positive conduct is seen as essential for spiritual growth and the well-being of society, instead of focusing on any element of life that is harmful not only to oneself but to all peoples.
 
The question then arises; can you be whole and holy enough to not allow your lower-self to guide your actions towards negativity?
 
To take this discussion to a person level, what have you done that has hurt someone else? Really look at this. Be honest with yourself. If you did decide to consciously do something that has or would hurt someone, what was you motivation? Was it to help them? Or, was it to help yourself? Be honest!
 
Then comes the second part of this examination. If you were following the lead of someone else in falling into the trap of hurtful behavior, why did you follow that person? Maybe it was to help them achieve whatever goal they hoped to achieve. Maybe you believed in what they were doing. Maybe you wanted them to like you. Maybe you wanted to impress them. But again, this brings us back to the question of why were you following a mindset of negativity in the first place? What was the benefit to that person you followed? What was the benefit to you? And, by harming someone else, did that make the world a better place in any way, shape, or form?
 
I know from a person perspective, whenever I’ve encountered some form of negativity, I try to understand that the person who is unleashing it has a mindset based in a less than ideal space of higher existence. Though it has been hard sometimes, I attempt to try to understand that perhaps they had encountered some form of hurt in their own life and this is their way of working through it. That doesn’t make experiencing what they have done any easier. But, it provides me with a basis for forgiveness.  
 
When I have encountered some form of negativity on a personal or a public level, there have times when people have extended a hand of positivity towards me. Though that’s great and I’m appreciative, the one thing that these people do not commonly do is to try to shift the conversation and make it into something positive. Meaning, they say or do nothing to the person who unleashed the negativity and/or to those who are embracing what that individual has instigated.  

And, that’s one of the interesting truth I’ve found about life, the people who are all motivated by the adrenaline rush of negativity are the one’s who’ll get all busy but those who follow the path of positivity are far more passive.   
 
This brings me to the point of this piece. We can all be made to feel angry at some person or subject that has made us upset. But, how do you meet negativity with positivity? Because if you do nothing… Because if you do not change the narrative and the direction of the life motion, then all that is left is negativity. And negativity only initiates more negativity. Maybe you feel tons of positivity towards a person or a subject, but if you do not do something positive to undo the negative then what remains? The answer is obvious. You can either do something positive to attempt to fix the negativity, or all that is left is a world defined by all that we know is not good.
 
How do you meet negativity with positivity?