In my work on negativity and trying to shift my mind away from it, I am getting confused about critical thinking and whether it has its place.

I’m referring to critical thinking as “the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgement” and in the French educational system (I am French) displaying “esprit critique” is a highly valued quality, an essential marker of intelligence.

We are trained to study every situation in terms of pros/cons, benefits/disadvantages, etc. and being critical is perceived as a strength, like you’re someone not easily fooled, who will call things out for what they are, and has the courage to express his/her opinions. If you’re someone who only sees the positive, it’s perceived as meekness or naivety, like you’re a dummy wearing rose-colored glasses. See the kind of hard-wiring I’m dealing with? 🙂

I recently attended an important conference and reported back to a colleague who had missed it. There were several things I disliked about the event — the speaker’s attitude and message, the audience’s reaction — so I proceeded to tell her about it, and it felt good to argue my point and get all inflamed.

However, in light of your teachings (+ the Law of Attraction), I suspect this is just indulging in negativity and is not serving me. But I have difficulty letting go of this idea that if I see something I disagree with, I shouldn’t call it out or argue against it. I feel like it’s a part of my personality that would leave a hole if I removed it.

I feel like this is an overarching theme in my life and I would welcome any insight that would bring me clarity on this. Or is it just about doing models on these kinds of situations?

Thank you!