Una's Blog

24
Feb

Una’s little world 26. Positive thinking – me bum!

by Una Hearne.

Ok, Ok, I do advocate and practice positive thinking. But – and it’s a big butt – there is an extreme end of this positive thinking lark that really gets my goat.

It’s explicit in the book ‘The Secret’ and appears in many other books and courses. It’s this idea that if you banish all negative thoughts from your mind – never allow one in even for a second – then you can manifest anything you want including perfect health. For example a quote: “When a person has manifested a disease in the body temple… can it be turned around through the power of ‘right’ thinking? and the answer is absolutely yes.”

Two problems for me with this. First, the person is to blame for manifesting disease? Eh, hell no. Second, if positive thinking worked like this – with the amount of inner work and ‘right’ thinking I’ve done in the last 30 years – I’d be the healthiest person in the country. Again, hell no. Ok, three problems, denying or suppressing our perfectly natural negative thoughts and feelings is unhealthy.

At the extreme end of the theory of perfect health, is the idea that with ‘right thinking’ we can prevent ageing and even death. Excuse my snort of laughter. I have yet to hear of a single person who has cheated old age and death.

We all know from our own experience that a positive frame of mind and absence of stress does influence our physical health. But to leap from this to the idea that our thinking can – on its own – cause and cure illness is a leap too far in my opinion. It simply isn’t born out in our experience.

So, if you are ill or feeling down, and you come across people who guarantee you can cure yourself if you follow their 9 step programme/ buy their book/ follow their regime… Run a mile and keep a firm grip on your wallet. Particularly if their guarantee allows them to claim it was your fault if it didn’t work – you didn’t do it exactly right or you didn’t believe hard enough. The technical term for this kind of guarantee is horseshit. (Of course if you do find yourself dancing round your handbag, naked, up a hill at full moon – let me know if it cures your warts!)

In personal development, try everything that appeals to you and that you can afford, bearing in mind that what works for one person won’t necessarily work for another.

 

 

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