Because Being Negative Is Hard

— body language by Weddie Thiên  —

 

They ask me, "How on earth do you

Stay positive the whole day through?"

They say it like it's some great feat,

A mountain climbed on aching feet.

My answer's short, it sounds absurd,

But hear me out and weigh my words.

​

Because being negative is hard!

You fight with what is, you’re on your guard.

It's shoving at a wall, a wall of stone,

That shoving makes that ache your own.

​

Now yes, the gloom comes quick and free,

It rises up so easily.

But look again, and watch it float,

It isn't gloom that drives the boat,

It's how we read the passing day,

With shoulds and shouldn’ts clouding the way!

We’ll take what is and call it wrong,

Then we’ll hum those heavy, aching songs.

​

So "negative" and "difficult"

Are not a cause and its result!

Just one thing wearing two sad names,

These dreary fires are sourced by blame.

You feel life press, because you pressed,

Then “negative” comes, with all that stress.

​

And under every “hard” I find

A should, a should-not in your mind!

It should be this! It shouldn't be that!

You’re in a trap, you’ve self-kidnapped.

Each should's a seed with stings inside,

The source of aches you cannot hide.

​

Now if you’d say, "To get to town,

I should turn left and travel down,"

That helpful should can steer the course,

It carries neither whip nor force.

It shows the way the world is strung,

No blame in it, no verdict flung.

​

But question shoulds that judge and jail,

And up comes fear, your cheeks go pale,

You fear the blame, you fear you'll lose

The praise you've come to think you're due.

Befriend that fear! Invite it in!

Salute yourself, and then begin.

Don't should the fear away, oh no,

Just breathe it in, along you go,

And what looked hard becomes a game,

A romp, a lark, you’ve made it tame.

​

Most folks have only ever seen

A cheerful coat of painted sheen,

A pumped-up grin, a hearty shout,

With every ache still tucked about.

That's labor, yes! That's uphill work!

To hold a smile where sorrows lurk.

So watching me, they price it high,

And think it costs me all my sky.

But mine is not that kind at all,

No paint, no props, no curtained wall.

​

Because being negative is hard!

You fight with what is, you’re on your guard.

It's shoving at a wall, a wall of stone,

That shoving makes that ache your own.
 

The happiest people there are, you know,

Are each little one, all lit aglow,

Before the shoulds have bolted in,

Before should-nots have named her sins.

You'd never sit a toddler down

To lecture cheer upon her frown!

She isn't “positive,” you see,

There's nothing there to disagree,

She simply has no fight to wage,

No wall to shove, no cell, no cage.

​

And "think it positive!" they cry,

"Don't be so negative!" they sigh.

But look what's hiding in that call,

Another should, you take that fall!

You should feel bright! You shouldn't feel blue!

The cure's the very germ we knew.

It doesn't even treat, it feeds,

It plants more of the self-same seeds.

Now two griefs stack instead of one,

The knot pulls tighter, the spell is spun,

You fight with life and it won’t budge,

Then blame yourself, and there's your grudge.

​

So few will catch my short reply,

And that's alright, I let it fly.

It's meant to poke, it’s meant to tease,

It's truth all folded up with ease.

The strangeness is that very door,

The curious will ask for more,

And those who shrug and turn to go

Lose what they could have come to know.

​

And even those who gripe and groan,

Who grumble in a weary tone,

They're only reaching, short of sight,

For something better, a bit of light!

They want the very thing I do,

Their method's crooked, intention’s true.

So no one's dark, and no one's grim,

Just reaching wrong for lights gone dim.

​

Because being negative is hard!

You fight with what is, you’re on your guard.

It's shoving at a wall, a wall of stone,

That shoving makes that ache your own.