October 21, 2009

The other day I was talking to my mom and she told me that she had seen a woman on the Jon Stewart show promoting a book about how thinking positive was destroying America. I was naturally intrigued since I am trying to prove the exact opposite. I had to look into it. The woman is Barbara Ehrenreich and the book is entitled “Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America.” Before I begin my commentary I want to note that I have not read the entire book (I put my name on the waiting list at the library), but I did watch the episode from Jon Stewart and I did read the introduction to the book posted on Ehrenreich’s website. I have extracted her comments from there and will follow up with a further review once I have read more of her book. In the meantime…


When I watched Ehrenreich on the Jon Stewart show I definitely sensed a negative vibe with her. She does not strike me as a happy person. In fact, she appeared somewhat bitter and frustrated with the world. Her book came to be because Ehrenreich was diagnosed with cancer, and she says that instead of getting the support she was looking for, she was bombarded with people telling her to just think positive. I agree that when someone discovers they have cancer you shouldn’t immediately respond with, “Just stay positive!” In fact, one who does that is really being insensitive because they are not allowing the person to grieve and feel sad over their situation. It also shows that the individual doesn’t really understand what positive thinking is about. You can’t just say, “Stay positive,” or just “hope” things will get better. Being positive means sending out positive images into the world, taking responsibility for your actions, making things happen for yourself, and finding a way to have an inner calm. When you have a positive inner peace you do not feel the need to tell everyone to “just be positive,” and this is where I think Ehrenreich is confused. She has obviously come in contact with a great deal of people who think that if you just want to be positive all will be well and that is simply not how it works.

Louise L. Hay, author of “You Can Heal Your Life,” and my inspiration for this project, is also a cancer survivor. She was diagnosed with terminal cancer and was healed by what she refers to as “positive thinking.” However, it was much more than just putting a positive vibe into the world (although that is important). She did months and months of therapy, eating healthy and getting to the root of her emotions. She had a tumultuous relationship with her mother that was a great source of pain for her and she was not able to heal until she worked through her pain. Changing your life and your thinking can be painful and difficult. I am struggling every day to change my patterns and create a better life for myself. I cannot simply wake up in the morning and wish it to be better. I must work towards it.

Positive thinking is the scapegoat for denial in Ehrenreich’s book. She attacks “positive thinking” and outlines all of the negative effects but in looking at her words what she is really upset about is a pervading sense of denial and lack of responsibility taking place in our country. Her take on positive thinking seems to be coming from people who are just throwing the term around but not engaging in the work it takes to make change. I wanted to take a look at some of her quotes and respond to them…

“We cannot levitate ourselves into that blessed condition by wishing it. We need to brace ourselves for a struggle against terrifying obstacles, both of our own making and imposed by the natural world. And the first step is to recover from the mass delusion that is positive thinking.” (Ehrenreich)

Ehrenreich refers to positive thinking as “mass delusion,” but again I think it’s because she doesn’t understand how it works. Anyone who has lived even just a few years on this earth knows that life is often difficult, confusing and hard to cope with. But, in my opinion, all of these things that happen around us and to us are part of lessons that we must learn. She is right that you cannot just wish for good things. You must work hard to change your place in life; you must give yourself time to grieve if you lose something or someone, etc. Positive thinking can be a vehicle to help you learn and grow from these experiences.

“But of course it takes the effort of positive thinking to imagine that America is the “best” or the “greatest.” (Ehrenreich)

In this statement Ehrenreich has used the words “positive thinking” but they are completely misplaced. Boasting that our country is the “best” or the “greatest” is not about positive thinking. It is about arrogance. Positive thinking and arrogance are not the same thing.

“As the economy has brought more layoffs and financial turbulence to the middle class, the promoters of positive thinking have increasingly emphasized this negative judgment: to be disappointed, resentful, or downcast is to be a “victim” and a “whiner.” (Ehrenreich)

Ehrenreich is again classifying all positive thinking people into one category. Her frustration should be aimed at people who are in denial. Positive thinking does not mean that we can’t be disappointed or frustrated or even resentful at times. These are emotions that are part of the human condition. That being said, if we allow ourselves to wallow in disappointment and resentment we are doing the most harm to ourselves. If we cannot learn to recover from these states of emotion, take responsibility for our own actions, and forgive others, we will be stuck in a life that is pretty miserable; a life where we allow ourselves to be victims and whiners. We do have a choice in how we see our lives and what we do with it.

These are just a few of the quotes I extracted from her book. I could have done many more but I think you get the point. Ehrenreich does note that she does not want to see the world in a negative light and she is not looking to make things bad for people. She wants people to be realistic. Being realistic is important because it allows us to get to the heart of our emotions and deal with them. However, I’d like to encourage Ehrenreich to not wallow in her emotions forever but to find a light and a way out of them.

One final note…

When I was in college I had the privilege of reading “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl, the story of a man who survived the concentration camps and kept his sanity. He lost everything he loved and despite all of this he remained positive. His positive thinking did not change his circumstances or the war happening in the world. The only thing it changed was his perception of his life and it allowed him to survive and thrive when he finally escaped. Frankl once said, “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” I encourage Ehrenreich to embrace the power she holds over her thoughts and to take a second look at positive thinking.


Writing Update…

As promised, each posting will include a small segment on what I am doing to become a writer. Here is my progress…

• I have made a list of every paper and magazine I am going to submit work to.

• I have started coming up with ideas for a non-fiction book idea