[Ailist] Re: "staying positive"..happiness?

[Howard Ditkoff]

Mel,

My concern would not only be narcissism, but many other potential imbalances that all stem from repression of one kind or another. Basically telling someone to be happy or "positive" all the time is almost an instruction for repressing their shadow when, in many cases, it is precisely integrating in their shadow that is necessary to become whole.

Seeking meaning is better. Seeking wholeness is best in my view and perfectly compatible with the principles of AI that I think are really most important.

Best,
Howard
Website: http://www.SystemsThinker.com
Blog: http://blog.SystemsThinker.com
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Message: 3
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:50:36 -0800
From: "Melanie M Minarik" <mminarik at unr.edu>
Subject: [Ailist] "staying positive"..happiness?
To: <ailist at lists.business.utah.edu>
Message-ID: <CA2ED9909266F145A5E51358EBAE05B505A56530 at UNRX.unr.edu>
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I heard something last week on Oprah Radio (yes, I listen to it!), Rabbi
Shmuley said we should quit telling everyone to "be happy", since what
that may be creating is a society filled with narcissism.  Perhaps, more
appropriately, we should be all be "seeking meaning".  Then, this almost
always connects us with others, gets us to the outcome of "happiness",
but does not involve selfish practices...and compels us to be more
holistic about "us" vs. "me". 

I thought this was quite profound and have been contemplating it a lot
this past week.

Mel Minarik, Ph.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.H.E.
Graduate Director, School of Community Health Sciences
University of Nevada, Reno
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