{"id":394,"date":"2019-01-25T20:51:52","date_gmt":"2019-01-26T02:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lindagorchels.com\/blogs\/?p=394"},"modified":"2019-05-01T21:53:53","modified_gmt":"2019-05-02T02:53:53","slug":"what-is-pronoia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lindagorchels.com\/blogs\/what-is-pronoia\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Pronoia?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Pronoia? What\u2019s that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I heard the term for the first time in a yoga class. It was\nintroduced as an antonym to paranoia. Here is <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pronoia_(psychology)\">Wikipedia\u2019s\ndefinition<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em>Pronoia<\/em> is a neologism coined to describe a state of mind that is the opposite of paranoia. Whereas a person suffering from paranoia feels that persons or entities are conspiring against them, a person experiencing pronoia feels that the world around them conspires to do them good.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pro and Con of Pronoia<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This sounds good\nuntil it later references a paper by Dr. Fred H. Goldner in which he describes\npronoia as a \u201cdelusion that others think well of [you] \u2026 politeness and the\nexchange of pleasantries are taken as expressions of deep attachment and the\npromise of future support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ignoring the\ndelusion part, I rather like the concept of pronoia, the feeling that the\nuniverse is on your side rather than against you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As I tried to find\nmore about it online, most of the information linked it to shamanism,\nastrology, and mystical experiences. Even a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1994\/08\/07\/archives\/thing-for-peace-and-love-try-raving-till-dawn.html\">1994 New York Times article<\/a> provided a skeptical look at the concept. The\npsychological delusion aspect seemed to become more prominent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ouch!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I just liked the positive vibe of an antidote to paranoia! It seemed like a good follow-up to my well-being blog on gratitude last week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think I get it\nnow. If we believe that others are conspiring behind our backs to help us, we\ngive up control of our own role in life. But is that absolutely necessary? Isn\u2019t\nthe concept really close to a positive mental attitude, as described on\nWikipedia?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>[A] positive mental attitude is that philosophy which asserts that having an optimistic disposition in every situation in one&#8217;s life attracts positive changes and increases achievement. Adherents employ a state of mind that continues to seek, find and execute ways to win, or find a desirable outcome, regardless of the circumstances.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">It&#8217;s all About Your Attitude, Thoughts and Emotions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Your thoughts\nproduce powerful emotions. Especially bad ones. This was portrayed vividly in\nthe opening paragraphs &nbsp;of <a href=\"https:\/\/liveboldandbloom.com\/11\/mindfulness\/positive-mental-attitude\">Positive Mental Attitude: 10 Mindsets for\nHappiness<\/a> on the Live Bold\n&amp; Bloom website of life coach Barrie Davenport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>You have somewhere around 45,000 negative thoughts a day.<\/p><p>Not just you \u2014 everyone does.<\/p><p>That&#8217;s about 80% of all of your thoughts. The vast majority of our thoughts are unpleasant, stressful, or self-sabotaging. Our brains are like a network news channel, only reporting the bad stuff with a sprinkling of good news to keep us from throwing ourselves off a cliff.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Wow. That\u2019s a sobering premise. If your thoughts are creating miserable emotions, it\u2019s time to take control. Here are the 10 suggestions Barrie provided in her article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Create\nawareness \u2013 notice when you succumb to negative thinking<\/li><li>Break\nthe spell \u2013 interrupt the mental looping of the thought<\/li><li>Fill in\nthe blank \u2013 redirect your thoughts<\/li><li>Practice\ndaily gratitude \u2013 be intentional in appreciating everything positive<\/li><li>Stop\nreacting \u2013 consciously overrule knee-jerk reactions<\/li><li>Find\npositive people \u2013 spend time with happy, uplifting people<\/li><li>Have\nmore fun \u2013 plan for relaxation and downtime<\/li><li>Turn off\nthe news \u2013 pay attention to inspiring news to balance the negative stuff<\/li><li>Simplify\nyour life \u2013 get rid of unneeded stuff, including those on your to-do list<\/li><li>Spend\ntime with family and friends \u2013 initiate meaningful family events<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Law of Attraction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Getting back to pronoia, it\u2019s also a distant cousin to The Law of Attraction. This is a concept I first learned about by listening to a recording by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.briantracy.com\/blog\/leadership-success\/use-the-law-of-attraction-to-improve-your-leadership-skills\/\">Brian Tracy,<\/a> perhaps 20+ years ago. And I still remember it. His website explains The Law of Attraction as follows: \u201cY<em>ou always attract into your life the people, ideas, and resources in harmony with your dominant thoughts.\u201d<\/em> He builds on this definition in his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dTqdMdLkJKU\">2-minute video<\/a> on the topic. He ends this solid quote: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote style=\"text-align:right\" class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>You are not what you think you are, but what you THINK, you ARE.\u201d<\/p><cite>Brian Tracy<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>While the universe\nmay not be conspiring to work in your favor, you can stack the decks by\ncontrolling how you think. Reign in your negative thoughts and replace them\nwith positive ones. You can\u2019t control everything that happens to you, but you\ncan control what you think about it. Accept the reality of what is with a\nsmile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pronoia? What\u2019s that? I heard the term for the first time in a yoga class. It was introduced as an antonym to paranoia. Here is Wikipedia\u2019s definition: Pronoia is a neologism coined to describe a state of mind that is&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hodgepodge"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What is Pronoia? - Linda Gorchels blogs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pronoia is the opposite of paranoia. 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