Thirukkural :Power of Positive Thinking

by N.S.Sankararaman

Management gurus these days lay great emphasis on the absolute necessity of a person to be positive about what they need to or want to achieve in their pursuits. true and complete understanding of the role played by the adoption of positive conduct and attitude will certainly help in the easier attainment of one's own objectives. Positive attitude has a great multiplying effect not only in leading one's efforts to fruition but also by enhancing the quality and quantity of success.

But,does positive attitude imply just blindly assuming an optimistic viewpoint irrespective of the possibilities of success in a particular operation or in a given situation. Not at all. Far from it, Positive attitude in a person best exemplifies itself by means of the person's ability to adopt an open minded approach to issues, weighing objectively the possibilities of success in the most unbiased manner possible and where preconceived notions are totally absent. But development of positive attitude itself is the result of another welcome personality attribute in an individual which in plain terms is HEALTHY ENTHUSIASM which acts as a great motivating factor for one's actions. While chances of succeeding in one's actions sould be much greater with an adoption of positive attitude towards the particular action and the conviction of a possible positive result, the negative approach would act as a great impediment in the achievement of one's objectives. While positive approach would enable a person to realize his true potentials , a negative mindset is bound to retard his progress, which is why even people with obviously very limited competence do succeed with apparent ease in their mission as they do possess the all important quality of POSITIVE MINDSET.

Thiruvalluvar highlighting the importance of being enthusiastic about one's own actions in the chapter titled ENTHUSIASM, says this particular attribute is one of the most important attributes a man should possess for tasting success. All other
attributes though positive would not be fruitful without one being enthusiastic.

Enthusiasm and being free from despondency would be the only stable attribute of a man's personality. I am reminded of the story of a very well known businessman who failed in his various ventures over sixty five times only to make it very big eventually and presently having his own sweet and snack shop in South Chennai acclaimed as a pioneer in his own field. This is the kind of effect that positive attitude and enthusiasm would have upon the result of a man's actions. The next KURAL confirms this view point.

Valluvar says in this KURAL that one with the desired level of enthusiasm will never become crestfallen even in times of adversities. The amount of mental energy that such men would be possessed with would stand them in good stead.

To further emphasise his viewpoint Valluvar comes up with an interesting analogy in the next verse. He says just as the tail of a water flower is proportionate to the depth of water, the extent of a man's ascendancy in his life would reflect the extent of his enthusiasm. SWAMI VIVEKANANDA's life best illustrates this VALLUVAR VIEW. The question whether the Swami-ji could have climbed the spiritual heights that he did in the short span of life time that he was granted by God without the great spiritual urge and thirst for spiritual learning is an interesting question to ponder. The heights that he rose to are truly a reflection of the man's deep spiritual inclinations granted by whom else but the Lord himself.

It is often said that to become great one should think about great things. There are ever so many success stories of individuals which would prove this. Doyens in whatever field they were involved have all possessed this particular quality. What is admirable is that Valluvar saying it in so succinct terms, so long ago, long before the advent of the industrial and materialistic age, that to become big , a man should always think big and continue to think big even if such success fails to materialize in the interim.

By saying in the next verse that the one without ENTHUSIASM will be deprived of their self fulfilment due to their disinterestedness in taking pride from their strengths and successes, Valluvar by omission emphasises the extent of self gratification that an enthusiastic man would derive with the pride that he has about his own accomplishments and strengths. While this could be understood as nothing but pandering to one's own EGO, perhaps this is also not so undesirable in this day and age. The vital importance of being enthusiastic and motivated in one's task would be best illustrated by a strong elephant with sharp horns being mortally afraid of a motivated, single minded and purposeful tiger though small in stature and not as strong as the former. Valluvar's propensity to drive home his viewpoint with extreme descriptions once again comes to the fore when he says that only ENTHUSIASM is one's real strength and in its absence a man is to be equated to a wooden tree though in the form of a human being.