This subject is typically "deeper" and more philosophical than most people choose to discuss, so I am posting it in the Psychology section. Although I'm very intelligent, I'm only almost 20, so keep that in consideration when commenting.
Anyway, so I am currently in therapy for my depression and social communication problems (started seeing my psych in February). Prior to therapy and even now, I have discovered that my "predictions" about virtually any situation ALWAYS turn out exactly as I think or say they will. Even situations regarding other people. It doesn't necessarily happen right away, but in the end things always conclude as I predict. It's almost like I'm psychic, but then again I'm not. Just to give you an example, I told my friend that if she didn't leave her boyfriend, then something bad would happen to her. Well, she left him, but didn't want to totally abandon him (so technically she DIDN'T leave him), so she visited him one day...and he hurt her physically. (Now obviously, this is probably a case of common sense and perception on my end...bad things lead to worse things.)
But skipping to the main point of this discussion, my psychologist tells me that I have to stop making these self-fulfilling prophesies/dispositions regarding life and social situations. He says that what I predict will always come true. And that's pretty much correct, which scares me because my life-long prediction has always been that I will be single and alone the rest of my life. Psychologically, my "proof" of this is that I have never been in a relationship, let alone had a strong friendship with anyone. In a crowd of people, I still feel very lonely and disconnected...like I'm not even human. I mean, after spending time with my new friends I get depressed and can't explain why.
So, without going too spiritual or philosophical, my main goal with asking this question is to find out if POSITIVE self-fulfilling prophecies are possible (and how I would go about making them happen). I've read that typically, only NEGATIVE self-fulfilling prophecies come true. It would be great if I could make some more positive things come true.
Because I've basically been a "people watcher" all my life, I am very perceptive and can tune into a person or situation quite fast and accurately. Although this may seem unethical to some people, I've taken up to being psychologically manipulative (sorta like an interrogator does to a criminal). And I don't mean that I am negatively influencing people, but I am just trying an experiment to see if I can make a positive self-fulfilling prophecy come true with my own effort. To show you an example of what I've been doing, I am using positive reinforcement (encouragement, loyalty, surprise gifts, etc) to slowly and subtlety draw a certain person closer to me. And I think I see some evidence of it working, although I'm not quite getting the results I want. In fact, I almost find myself making those negative self-prophecies again :/
To sum it all up....is it possible to generate a POSITIVE self-fulfilling prophecy and work towards or wait for it to come true? I am very open-minded, so I welcome any comments or suggestions.
Thanks!
Anyway, so I am currently in therapy for my depression and social communication problems (started seeing my psych in February). Prior to therapy and even now, I have discovered that my "predictions" about virtually any situation ALWAYS turn out exactly as I think or say they will. Even situations regarding other people. It doesn't necessarily happen right away, but in the end things always conclude as I predict. It's almost like I'm psychic, but then again I'm not. Just to give you an example, I told my friend that if she didn't leave her boyfriend, then something bad would happen to her. Well, she left him, but didn't want to totally abandon him (so technically she DIDN'T leave him), so she visited him one day...and he hurt her physically. (Now obviously, this is probably a case of common sense and perception on my end...bad things lead to worse things.)
But skipping to the main point of this discussion, my psychologist tells me that I have to stop making these self-fulfilling prophesies/dispositions regarding life and social situations. He says that what I predict will always come true. And that's pretty much correct, which scares me because my life-long prediction has always been that I will be single and alone the rest of my life. Psychologically, my "proof" of this is that I have never been in a relationship, let alone had a strong friendship with anyone. In a crowd of people, I still feel very lonely and disconnected...like I'm not even human. I mean, after spending time with my new friends I get depressed and can't explain why.
So, without going too spiritual or philosophical, my main goal with asking this question is to find out if POSITIVE self-fulfilling prophecies are possible (and how I would go about making them happen). I've read that typically, only NEGATIVE self-fulfilling prophecies come true. It would be great if I could make some more positive things come true.
Because I've basically been a "people watcher" all my life, I am very perceptive and can tune into a person or situation quite fast and accurately. Although this may seem unethical to some people, I've taken up to being psychologically manipulative (sorta like an interrogator does to a criminal). And I don't mean that I am negatively influencing people, but I am just trying an experiment to see if I can make a positive self-fulfilling prophecy come true with my own effort. To show you an example of what I've been doing, I am using positive reinforcement (encouragement, loyalty, surprise gifts, etc) to slowly and subtlety draw a certain person closer to me. And I think I see some evidence of it working, although I'm not quite getting the results I want. In fact, I almost find myself making those negative self-prophecies again :/
To sum it all up....is it possible to generate a POSITIVE self-fulfilling prophecy and work towards or wait for it to come true? I am very open-minded, so I welcome any comments or suggestions.
Thanks!