Positive Thinking vs Wishful Thinking!

My friends who know me will always tell me that I'm not positive enough, I don't have a positive mind set and what not. They might be true, seriously, I'm not an advocate for positive thinking, and religion for a similar reason, though their aim is noble, a lot of people are misled by people who use the original teachings for their own good. Which lead to a lot of people to practice the teachings wrongly!

I've met a few people who are genuinely positive, who can look at a situation from a positive perspective. They look at a situation and instead of thinking how it had adversely impact them, they look at how it might positively affect them. Then they walk towards the brighter direction, it is a very simple change of thought, but it take practice to make it a habit. Positive thinking in this context is healthy, because it will lead a person to a happier life and usually a happy person is a successful person. 

Here are a few example of Wishful Thinking and how it is different from Positive Thinking:

Wishful Thinking: I'm going to get [insert the luxury that you desire] in future!
Positive Thinking: I like [insert the luxury that you desire], how am I going to get it, and what I can do to get it?
Negative Thinking: Given my current condition, it will never be mine!

---

Wishful Thinking: I'm going to get well soon!
Positive Thinking: I'll feel better if I stop thinking about how sick I am, how am I recover faster?
Negative Thinking: I'm feeling so sick!

---

Wishful Thinking: She'll be mine!
Positive Thinking: I like her, and if it feels right we will be together!
Negative Thinking: She's too good for me!

---

Wishful Thinking: I've lost my wallet, but they will be found!
Positive Thinking: I've lost something, but I've learn a lesson, and I should work harder to earn back what I've lost!
Negative Thinking: I've lost my wallet! Everything is so important inside! I need to do so much to get them back!

---

Wishful Thinking: This business is the next big thing!
Positive Thinking: This business is going to work if I'm working it right!
Negative Thinking: Well that's the plan, if it works!

The wishful thinker will form their belief and make decision base on what please their future image, without reference to evidence, rationality or reality. On the other hand, the Oxford English Dictionary defines optimism, or positive thinking, as having "hopefulness and confidence about the future or successful outcome of something; a tendency to take a favorable or hopeful view." Unlike wishful thinking, they are more realistic in nature, and hence their decision will be more reliable, and the possibility of them being successful are usually higher.

To be blunt, the wishful thinking people are living in their own bubble, and if they meet someone who have the same bubble, they merge and grow, and if they meet someone with a needle, they burst, bleed and fall, sometimes fatally. Wish and you shall receive is, at least to me, downright superstitious. Wish, work and you shall receive, is however true, and having an optimistic mind, helps increase your productivity and push you for the extra miles that separate you from your competitors.

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

- Winston Churchill

So let's start practicing positive thinking in the right way!