Yes, you read the title correctly. A half century ago Norman Vincent Peale made millions of dollars on his book The Power of Positive Thinking. To oversimplify, he said if you think positively then everything will turn out all right. It must have resonated with a deep human need as it was translated into 15 languages and sold seven million copies. It still pops up today on Amazon.
Lesser known than its popular success are the academic criticisms. There was little or no documentation to his claims but hundreds of quotes from “a well-known psychiatrist,” “a practicing physician,” “a prominent New York resident,” and the like. Academics were almost universally alarmed at the banality of his suggestions and described it as “woodenly pious.”
Today the idea still propagates itself although it has become, like everything else, more specialized in the “Prosperity Ministry.” The cable religious channels have flooded the airwaves with such programming. The format is the same: a huge auditorium packed with thousands, upbeat music, a large stage in front of the band and when the main act appears, an immaculately dressed and handsome minister (usually male and always politically conservative) bounds up the steps with a million-dollar smile, beautifully coiffed hair, and a personality that could sell space heaters to sub-Saharan tent dwellers.
Although the harangue will be lengthy the message is very simple: God WANTS you to be rich! On and on he goes about how there is treasure awaiting each and every one if you will only believe that it is God’s plan for you to have riches beyond imagining. Thinly veiled is the suggestion that sending in a contribution to help the minister with his 30 million dollar mansion might increase the chance of heavenly largesse.
Not to extend the picture further, some good, although not financial, may actually accrue to those who have their belief strengthened in a personal God that will take action in their troubled lives. We all have troubles and there can be little doubt that support from any source is frequently needed.
All this sets the scene for another scenario, one that is capable of derailing any thought of things getting better: The power of negative thinking. While the concept of mind over matter is subject to many questions, if one believes that things will not work out, there is less likelihood of a positive outcome.
More importantly, is that negativity will blunt the enthusiasm for giving any effort toward a positive result. In that sense the Rev. Peale was right: If you think positively, you will have the energy to work through the difficulty rather than just folding your tent and slinking away. The emotional work involved in negative thinking is much more draining than believing in a positive result.
Years ago, I was having a conversation concerning pessimism with a downcast friend. “Cheer up. Things could be worse,” I suggested, to which he responded, “I did that once, and sure enough, they got worse!”
The negative/positive equation has to be balanced with realism but expecting magical results is not logical. It is much better to assess the facts in an objective way, plan a course of action using all available support systems and not waste energy on all the bad things that might happen.
The power of negative thinking is like swimming with all your clothes on, including boots; you can do it, but it is anything but easy. Discarding pessimism won’t improve your ability to swim but it will give you a flotation device until help arrives. Everyone needs to believe that.
Hayden Hollingsworth
