“Whenever someone says to me, ‘Marianne, you’re being a Pollyanna,’
I think to myself, ‘If only I were that powerful.’”
—Marianne Williamson
“Being a Pollyanna” about something is usually understood to refer to somebody who is starry-eyed, a bit twee, perhaps, and unrelentingly positive even when faced with adversity. Politicians often use the phrase to disparage the opposition when they are calling them out for unrealistic expectations and as dreamy, sensitive types.
It’s easy to be thankful and admire rainbows and pretty flowers when everything is sunny and life is peachy. When things appear to go to s***, that’s when the true strength and grit of Pollyanna shines.
11 years ago, I was diagnosed with a heart condition. Prior to this, life was chugging along nicely. I was busy with the demands of two young children 6 and under and navigating life in a country where I didn’t really speak the language. I could handle going to the supermarket and making myself understood, but that was about it.
Suddenly, I was faced with a devastating health diagnosis. Everything hit the fan. It was messy and unpleasant. I was prescribed medication that lowered my already naturally low blood pressure to the degree that walking felt like wading through water. I was exhausted, felt permanently sick, and was terrified of leaving my children without a mother.
In my dark days, I was afraid to go to sleep in case I didn’t wake up in the morning. But the more I focused on the fear, the more it got a hold of me.
It was much easier to wallow in misery, focus on despair, and talk myself into a state of relentless negativity than it was to pull myself together and get back in the driver’s seat.
But then I started to feel incredibly lucky when I woke up. “I’m alive! Another day!” The funny thing is, the more I looked at the good around me and appreciated the beauty, the more I had to be grateful for.
I found that I seemed to attract exactly the right sort of people I needed to meet at that time. We all do this, one way or another. I found a magnificent GP whose gentle reassurance and sensible advice was just what I needed. I found a Qi Gong class and started to practice yoga in a local studio.
I met a color therapist who introduced me to the language of color and what my body wanted me to know. I was, and am, so grateful to the people around me for showing me what I needed to learn to help myself.
Pollyanna talks about something called the Glad Game. The object of the game is to find something to be glad about in anything, no matter how dire the circumstances. It’s something I do every day, particularly before I go to bed. I’d much rather focus on gratitude than prime my creative subconscious with horrendously bad thoughts.
Pollyanna was no lightweight. She was a badass. It takes absolutely no courage or effort to be cynical and bitter about the world. It’s very easy to watch global events unfold and doom-spiral into hopelessness. Being a Pollyanna takes guts, imagination and strength of character. More than ever, this is exactly what the world needs.
