By Jordan Green, Editor-in-Chief
We tend to take a lot of things for granted when we’re going through our days. Whether we overlook simple acts of kindness from a stranger or don’t notice the value of a short phone call from a friend, we miss out on a lot of the good things around us, focusing instead on the parts of life that drag us down.
Part of our problem is that we’re thinking on the wrong stuff. Of late, I’ve been reading “The Power of Positive Thinking” by the late, great Norman Vincent Peale. Decades after Peale first wrote the book, its wisdom remains powerful.
Peale is probably known as one of the greatest motivational preachers of the 20th century. He wrote the book based on his own life’s experience as well as that of people he met in his trips across the nation.
I began reading the book at the recommendation of a friend who found great value in it years ago.
Though I’m only a few chapters in, I’m already inspired by what Peale has to say.
In the first chapter, Peale relates the story of a man who came to him with little hope for his life. He told Peale that “everything” in his life had gone wrong, that he had screwed it all up and that he was despondent.
Peale responded by asking the man a series of questions. First, he asked about the man’s family, and the man said he loves them and is grateful for them. Peale asked several more questions and came up with a list of people and values the man holds deeply. Among them: Family, friends, health, a free life in the United States and faith in God.
Peale’s genius was on full display here. The man walked away from the conversation with a restored sense of hope and a much better outlook on his life.
Peale’s advice to the rest of us: “If you feel that you are defeated and have lost confidence in your ability to win, sit down, take a piece of paper and make a list, not of the factors that are against you, but of those that are for you. If you or I or anybody thinks constantly of the forces that seem to be against us, we will build them up into a power far beyond that which is justified.
“They will assume a formidable strength which they do not actually possess. But if, on the contrary, you mentally visualize and affirm and reaffirm your assets and keep your thoughts on them, emphasizing them to the fullest extent, you will rise out of any difficulty regardless of what it may be.”
Once you’ve quit ruminating on negative thoughts, Peale says, “immediately start filling your mind with creative and healthy thoughts. When the old fears, hates and worries that have haunted you for so long try to edge back in, they will in effect find a sign on the door of your mind reading ‘occupied.’ They may struggle for admission, for having lived in your mind for a long time, they may feel at home there. But the new and healthy thoughts which you have taken in will not be stronger and better fortified, and therefore able to repulse them.”
To some, Peale’s advice sounds too simple, too positive or maybe too gimmicky. I’m one who has often resisted such advice, much to my own loss. But the more we train our minds to think along these lines, I believe we will see results.
When will you start to unleash the power Peale talks about – the power of positive thinking? If you want to, then I recommend reading this legendary book.