I never knew paranoia had its sister counterpart, a yin to the yang. I was listening to an audiobook on gratitude and it drifted over in a haze of confusion and awe. Of course, everyone is familiar with paranoia. It accompanies us daily in varying degrees; doubt, suspicion, a lingering bad feeling, unexplained fear. We get doses of such emotions so frequently we forget that maybe, just maybe, there is another way to view the things we cannot fully explain.
Of course we’ve evolved to be this way. Without fear and suspicion, without a gut instinct to flee or fight, we as a human race would not have survived. So it is intrinsically beneficial to be paranoid - up to a point.
Pronoia, in its broadest sense, is the belief that the universe is conspiring in your favour. Sounds crazy right? Who could be so delusional to think that way, knowing what we know of the world and more importantly, of its people? And yet, I can’t help but be struck by the word, stunned almost by the fact that it actually exists. Which gets me thinking - are we so steeped in mistrust that a concept suggesting that the world around us strives to do us good feels more akin to science fiction? While the fact that everyone around us is undermining us is more real? Don’t you think that this is, quite frankly, sad?
Don’t get me wrong, I understand. We hear far more stories of backstabbing and betrayal than we do of random acts of kindness. Everyone would rather be prepared for the worst (Paranoia) than for the good (Pronoia) because that’s how we’re made - we feel equipped and ready for when the bad eventually hits. Because, and this we believe fervently, the bad will hit, at some point. And I agree - it always does.
And yet, I think there’s another lesson to be had here. We’re not necessarily meant to believe that only good will come knocking on our doors - unfortunately we’ve seen enough of life to know otherwise. But perhaps, we’re meant to believe that every day we wake to a roof over our heads, a family we love, a job that keeps us fed and more, is an opportunity for us to say hey, the world has conspired in our favour today.
I don’t think Pronoia will ever take over its sister in the collective mindset. I think we’ve lost a lot of that faith in humanity - if we ever had it in the first place - to be able to live constantly within that positive delusion.
But I do believe that approaching the day with gratitude is already a step towards achieving that state. That overcoming all the negative thoughts that come streaming in the moment we open our eyes, with something like I’ve got this. It’s going to be a good day sets the tone for the rest of it. The more you start noticing the good in your life, the more you seem to attract it. Or rather, the more it becomes evident and the easier it is to spot it.
Embrace a little bit of pronoia every day. Trust more. Have more faith. Do it slowly. See where it takes you.