waiting in the airport….

Ah travelling in winter in Canada and the north-eastern US. You never know what you’re going to get. A couple of days ago, it’s all wet and rain and today, my travel day, there is a winter storm warning for exactly the very airports I will be travelling through. However, since I’m travelling to get to my Masters in Applied Positive Psychology class, I feel that it would be hugely hypocritical to be bitter or upset about this, and I’m going to practice (publicly) my “looking on the bright side” thinking.

So here are the silver linings:

- free wi-fi at the airport

- lots of time to do my MAPP readings ahead of class time

- catching up on email and social networking

- catching up on writing this blog

- knowing that, if I really don’t make it, there is a chance I can patch in remotely (this new technology was tested at the last MAPP class weekend when we had another big snowstorm…)

But wait – is that a feeling of dissonance I sense? While it is good to be able to reframe and cognitively find the silver lining, I do worry as well about my own sense of integrity and allowing myself to feel the negative emotions and disappointments: missing seeing my classmates in real time, missing interacting with the professors and instructors, worrying about how to focus on a videoconference patch-in with my kids running around the house… Do “positive” and “happy” people really make all of these negative thoughts and worries magically disappear?

This is a struggle for many who are studying positive psychology, and I’m not sure what the answer is. What is the balance between being in integrity with oneself, and all the negativity that one honestly possesses, and being positive and optimistic and happy, and reaping all of the benefits of that mindset?

I’m definitely open to ideas. After all, it looks like I might have all day…