The classic definition of an optimist and a pessimist
illustrates the personalities of positive thinkers and of
those who think negatively. One person sees his glass as half
full and the other sees the same quantity in his glass as
half empty. A person who says, "With my luck, we'll have to
wait half an hour for that bus," is usually proven right.
What is this idea of "With my luck"? When did this person
form such an opinion about himself that he always has poor
`luck'?
When a person is absolutely convinced of something, it is
difficult to persuade him otherwise. This works in a positive
way but by the same token, it works for negative thinkers. A
girl who says she can't draw or sew, or sing in tune,
probably won't. One who says, "I am never ill" is somehow
never ill. The seasoned traveler who says, "I never managed
to sleep in a strange bed," will lie awake most of the night.
Hashem seems to confirm their statements.
"I can never get to sleep without a sleeping pill," complains
an old lady. She takes the small pill which her son gives her
and enjoys an excellent night's sleep. The fact that the
doctor prescribed a placebo does not make any difference. She
thinks it is a sleeping pill, so it works. Placebos have been
tried and tested for many years and have helped patients
recover from real illnesses to a remarkable degree. A child
who coughs uncontrollably at night will settle nicely after
some cough medicine. It doesn't make much difference what the
medicine is, so long as it comes from a medicine bottle and
the taste is not too familiar. A spoonful of milk -- if you
forgot to add a few drops of mint flavor -- is not likely to
work. The child has to think it is medicine. As long as we
are certain about something, it almost invariably
succeeds.
Positive thoughts make for a positive life; negative thoughts
do a great deal of harm. Which came first: the chicken or the
egg? Does someone announce, "I can never do exams" after they
have failed several times? If he is a person with a negative
opinion about himself, he may have failed once, or perhaps
achieved a lower mark than he had expected, and from this
stemmed the corollary that he can never do well in school.
From early childhood we see confident children who know that
they can slide down that long daunting slide, and the others
who say they can't. Some will never attempt it because they
say they can't. As a young teacher, I saw a father bring his
five-year-old boy to school day after day and coax him to go
on the slide in the playground. He felt his son was missing
out on a lot of fun, but it was not the child's idea of fun.
Nevertheless, the father succeeded in banishing the idea from
the boy's head that he just couldn't go down that slide.
Doctors are often so positive about their diagnoses that the
prognosis gives the patient no hope. They predict the course
of the illness with utmost conviction and patients take their
word for it. We Jews know that human predictions are not
infallible. We do not have to let negative thoughts drive us
from this world. Prayers make a great deal of difference.
Moreover, prayers of supplication (and, of course, gratitude
for benefits received each day), can and do change the course
of our day.
