Wide Range of Possibilities

From the Cosmic Tarot, the Star; from the L'Oeil de Lotus, Expectation:

          I must say I was glad to see the optimism and hope reflected in the Star card appear, though my enthusiasm was dampened a bit by the Expectation card. The opening verse of the Dhammapada states: "Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think." (Another translation says: "All experience is preceded by mind, led by mind, made by mind.") It is tempting to do as some New Age movements and translate this into a philosophy that says "If you think it, you can have it," as if whatever you want will be given to you if you frame it in a positive light. Yet the Buddha was actually saying that our cognitive patterns shape the kind of mental experience we have. If your mind's habits are like Eeyore's, then you'll have an Eeyore attitude in response to your world. Now there's nothing wrong with positive thinking - it just means you aren't expecting doom and gloom. And having hope that is not attached to a certain outcome lightens the spirit considerably. This kind of hope allows us to lift our eyes and hearts to the fact that the future is unknown, which means it has a wider range of possibilities than my ego can come up with.

The Buddha’s view on positive thinking was that if it violates reality, it’s worthless. ~ Bodhipaksa