Today we are inundated with endless streams of advice telling us we need to visualize our dreams and desires, and to always have a positive attitude about our future.
The ancient and modern Stoics do not believe this is wise. They believe that a “positive attitude” will more likely lead to disappointment and disillusion since life is filled with ups and downs, and an overly optimistic view of life will lead to unrealistic expectations.
“Misfortune weighs most heavily on those who expect nothing but good fortune.” Seneca
Instead they advise the practice of ‘negative visualization’. Negative visualization involves the calm consideration of what would happen if you lose the things you have. Negative visualization accomplishes many things:
Loss loses its painful sting when it has already been considered as a possibility.
By considering the bad things that can happen one is better prepared to act positively when they occur.
Considering the loss of what you currently possess helps to create a greater sense of gratitude for those things. It is an old saying that you never appreciate the things you have until you lose them. Through negative visualization you renew your appreciation for the things you have without having to lose a thing. In other words you will have an ‘attitude of gratitude’ for the things you have rather than an unhealthy obsession over things you do not.
Finally negative visualization helps you to compare the value of things. What things can you do without and still prosper? And what things do you really need? Negative visualization helps us to differentiate the two.
Positive visualization on the other hand encourages us to fantasize about things that we do not have creating a risk of false expectations and the loss of appreciation for the things we do have. This is a recipe for unhappiness since no matter what you have, you will always want more. And the more you want, the less you will appreciate what you have.
However, people often respond to the concept of negative visualization with accusations that you just have a bad attitude. There is a big difference between having a realistic ‘attitude of gratitude’ created by negative visualization, and having a negative attitude; that is a belief that everything is bad and likely to get worse.
In fact negative visualization creates the very opposite of a ‘negative attitude’. After considering the loss of everything you will often experience a profound sense of satisfaction with what you have. Pursuing positive visualization on the other hand can leave you helpless when things go wrong, and profoundly disappointed when your unrealistic expectations fail to materialize.
Negative visualization is not the same thing as having a negative attitude. Far from it, negative visualization creates an organic sense of calm, harmony, and gratitude which empowers the person to to appreciate what they have now, and overcome obstacles that may lie ahead.