The Power of Positive Thinking

It’s a fitting day to think about a game we have all played at least once in life. The eternal question when we think about our first tryst with Love. “He loves me, he loves me not”, has fixed or broken a heart in varying times of anonymity, in our journey of finding true love. The game serves a purpose. It re-instates your faith in the power of love. It makes one unbelievably positive of receiving affection from their loved one or makes one incredibly pessimistic of never being able to find true love.

The impact is often created in extremes.

He loves me, he loves me not or originally effeuiller la marguerite in French, is a game of French origin in which one person seeks to determine whether the object of their affection returns that affection or not. The player typically is motivated by attraction to the person they are speaking of while reciting the phrase on each petal. They may seek to reaffirm a pre-existing belief, or act on a whim.

What if I told you that it can be proven that whichever phrase you begin with, you are most likely to end the game with the same phrase. This can be mathematically proven using the Fibonacci sequence.

The Fibonacci sequence is named after Italian mathematician, Leonardo of Pisa, known as Fibonacci. His 1202 book, Liber Abaci, introduced the sequence to Western European mathematics, although the sequence had been described earlier as Virahanka numbers in Indian mathematics. The Fibonacci numbers are the numbers in the following integer sequence, called the Fibonacci sequence, and characterised by the fact that every number after the first two is the sum of the two preceding ones:

1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144….

The magic of nature is in the arrangement of the petals in a flower. It always follows the Fibonacci sequence. The total number of petals in a flower will either be 55, 89, 144 and so on. If you note the numbers, the even ones come after every two odd numbers. Hence, two thirds of the times you play this game, you will finish with an odd number. Therefore, whatever is the initial belief will get re-confirmed in most cases. Try it.

There is quite a high probability that the phrase you begin with will augur the end of the game. There are many situations when we are not sure of the outcome of our efforts. In those times, if you start on a positive note, you are more likely to end with an optimistic and reassuring feeling about your belief. That is the power of positive thinking. What you often begin with believing, you are most likely to end with achieving. As Paulo Coelho mentions in his book, The Alchemist, “when you want something, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it.” Believe in that thought with all your heart.

The fun fact remains that optimism fuels the aspirations and motivation of our team members. Well begun is half done. Why don’t we pledge to begin on optimism and multiply its effect with every step taken towards our end goal?

Negativity grows and destructs when seeded or spread. Optimism leads to achieving bigger, better and brighter goals. Always begin on a positive note.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all!