The Problem with Positive Thinking

+ desire as dividends in "bank" you can't always see right away

A few years ago, I removed an invasive bush called an Autumn Olive that was growing near one of my gardens.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I understand why people once loved Autumn Olive.

It fixes nitrogen in the soil.
That means it makes nitrogen available so other plants can use it.

It prevents erosion.
It grows easily, almost anywhere.

In fact, back in the 1950s, conservation programs even handed them out for free, with good intentions.

What they didn’t realize is that Autumn Olive is aggressive. It outcompetes everything. By the 1980s, it was obvious and they declared it invasive.

Anyway, I had a huge Autumn Olive right by one of my gardens.

I wish I had a picture of it.

It was the GRANDADDY of Autumn Olives.
With branches bigger than my torso.

But at some point, it started crowding my apple trees, grapevines, and raspberry bushes, so it had to go.

A good friend helped me cut it down.

Underneath, it was a huge bare patch of soil.

Here’s the thing: nothing in nature stays bare for long.

Later that season, walnut and cherry seedlings, raspberries, and more…popped up on their own.

And in the years since then, they have grown into a lush extension of my food forest.

I have thought about that spot a lot over the years.

Because nature has a way of teaching us about ourselves.

Just like that soil, we go through seasons that look empty but are really full of potential.

And yet, there are a lot of people out there teaching manifestation, the Law of Attraction, “good vibes only,” and all of that.

They say: if you want something, you have to think positive.
You have to “be” the frequency of your desire.

And if you don’t have what you want?
Well, what they imply is something is “wrong” with you.

None of that sits right with me. At all.
Because nothing in nature, not a single thing, is in full bloom all the time.

So how can we expect ourselves to be “good vibes only”?
That’s not how nature works.
Nature has winters.

(And beyond that, the mainstream version of manifestation skips systemic racism, generational poverty, and structural barriers that exist…but that’s a different essay.)

My point here, though, is that mainstream manifestation can even make us gaslight ourselves into believing that if we’re struggling, it must be “our fault.”

Here’s how I see it instead:

All of our desires, when they don’t happen right away, go into a kind of “bank.”

When our money is low.
When nothing is going right.
When we are sad or frustrated, or upset.
When we want to feel differently than we really do.

All of those desires, and that longing for how we want to feel
accumulates in a “bank,” of sorts, for us.

And when the timing, skills, connections, and our energy lines up, that bank becomes available to us.

Just like that barren soil under that granddaddy Autumn Olive.

It looked bare for a while, but it wasn’t empty.

It was just preparing for something else to grow.

And when the time is right, things can take off like a rocket ship in ways that don’t really make all that much sense.

*

I’ve lived this myself. Many times.

People ask me how I started a business without knowing a single thing about business. How I replaced my income in a month and grew my business so fast.

The truth? I had been “depositing” into my own metaphorical bank for years:

I lived financial struggles, longing for purpose, and frustration with my current reality.

I spent decades desperately wanting something else.

All of those desires went into that bank.

And when the time was right, suddenly everything appeared to grow…at once.

Those desires were seeds planted.

*

It has happened again recently, after a winter of exhaustion, and if i’m being honest, turmoil.

I rested deeply.
I reached out for help.

And from that muddy time, beautiful, nourishing things have sprung forth:

New ventures.
New opportunities.
New ways of “doing” business (and life).

Stuff I couldn’t have imagined was gifted to me generously and with zero strings attached.

That “bank” of all those longtime desires was suddenly accessible to me.

It was made real, all at once, in ways that bend logic.

*

So here’s what I’d tell you:

When you are feeling low, don’t make your muddy feelings wrong.

Don’t believe you have to force yourself into permanent bloom.
Feel what you feel.
Try to move a little each day- take a walk, stretch, do what you can.
Don’t gaslight yourself into “good vibes only.”

Just keep tending to the soil of your heart,
without making any of your feelings wrong.

Trust that even if things look barren right now,
growth is already underway in ways you can’t yet see.

You are building that bank, even if you don’t realize it, and when the time is right, all of the goodness will grow in ways that may stun you.

Remember that soil looks bare- like nothing will ever grow- before it bursts with green.

Our lives are the same.

We are supported.

Hold that in your heart. Believe it.

Love,

Rhonda Linn

P.S. This community will keep moving forward just as it always has. And, if you’re a heart-led entrepreneur, I’d love to invite you to also join me in my new Substack community as well: Business Growth Rebels.

My longtime friends and colleagues,

Jordan Taylor

, Amanda Goddard, and I have partnered together to create a gathering place for entrepreneurs who want to do business differently.

Business Growth Rebels is about rewriting the old rulebook and creating businesses that truly support the lives we want to live, and the people we are.

The Earthen Jar; Stars themes you see here will absolutely show up there too…just with a sharper focus on entrepreneurship.

If that speaks to you, come join us. We’d love to have you. :)

Learn more about us and Business Growth Rebels here. ✨

xo, Rhonda