The problem with having a rule that you have to be positive
Is that forced positivity
Can lead you – to use the pejorative –
To feeling a bit shitty
When your fake full-beam smile is dull in comparison
To ‘insprational-quote’ Maddison.
Because deep down I knew that being authentic
Was the best way to feel really splendid.
It was an admirable thing to ban self-doubt
But actually as effective as banning a drought –
The more I was instructed not to be real
The more negatives I started to feel.
It was like the Stepford Wives except on crack –
The Mindfulness Militia on fast-track,
Self-affirmations sung by a gospel choir
Any skeptics cast on the fire.
And deep down I knew that being authentic
Was the best way to feel really splendid.
After an unwelcome, unexpected reprieve
I found that it really was much simpler to breathe
Without a noose round my neck ready to tighten
If I cried, frowned, questioned or ever got frightened
So I’m practicing my own positivity –
Without a brand or an army – it’s really just me.
And deep down I knew that being authentic
Was the best way to feel really splendid.