Today, on my walk, I started thinking about toxic positivity and toxic negativity.
I thought about the whole glass full vs glass empty thing.
And then I decided that assuming the person in question actually LIKES and WANTS the liquid in the glass is an aspect of toxic positivity.
A half full glass of something that is disgusting to us is not a good thing.
Beyond the glass thing, here are some real world examples:
1. A family member is going on vacation. We check the weather forecast for where they are staying. We see that every day is supposed to be in the 80's and sunny. You really lucked out with the weather for this trip! we say, You're going to have a great time! I hope you will count your blessings.
But if we had listened to our family member in the past, we would understand that they are heat sensitive and don't like sunny weather. They prefer cooler, cloudy weather. And they love thunderstorms.
2. Our coworker is surprised, by their boyfriend, with a huge expensive, bouquet of roses. We tell them how lucky they are and that we envy them. But maybe they don't like surprises, big gestures, floral gifts, etc.
I feel kind of egocentric about these examples, because they represent my own likes and dislikes (minus the thunderstorm bit)
I'm betting there have been times where I saw someone as blessed, lucky, etc. when they had something I would like and imagined they'd like it too.
I can't think of a real life example.
Sadly, it's probably more likely that I would know they dislike what I see as a blessing and then I'd judge them for not liking it.
Oh! I remembered an example. My sister's family went on a vacation, and it involved huge iguanas visiting their balcony. I envied them for that, knowing that some of them were less thrilled about big reptiles than me. And yes. I had snobby feelings towards them about that.
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