Negative beliefs about positive thinking
Proponents of positive thinking say we can make health miracles happen by focusing on what we want. Scientific studies of the placebo response reveal the miracles that occur from this kind of optimism when patients expecting good results experience cures from taking pills that contain no medicine or by undergoing sham surgical procedures. But deliberately practicing optimism in the face of health problems tends to be harder than it sounds.
Despite the good news about the effects of optimistic expectations upon health, a constellation of unconstructive cultural beliefs about the hazards of optimism and the benefits of pessimism often directs us to focus on what we don’t want by locking attention onto worst-case scenarios. In the motorcycling world there is a term for concentrating on what you don’t want: target fixation. Beginner’s safety classes teach new riders that during times of vulnerability or panic, there is a tendency to focus on the oncoming car or looming guardrail and freeze, continuing directly toward the potential problem rather than reacting to avoid the crash. This is obviously hazardous to your health when riding a motorcycle. It also does you no good when dealing with a health crisis.
Healthy functioning is the target you would benefit most from fixating on when you want to eliminate unwanted symptoms. Instead, everyone from the doctor to your concerned family and friends may lean strongly in the direction of the target of worsening problems. When you’re sick, you may find yourself highly susceptible to the moods, advice, and influences of those around you. In your weakened or worried condition, trying to practice positive thinking while listening to how things can go wrong can be more than a little challenging. That’s why it’s smart to practice on small stuff to become adept at recognizing and dismissing the reasons others give you for concentrating on what you don’t want.
The culture leans toward pessimism, which means it’s uphill sledding for those who want to practice optimism. But negative beliefs about positive thinking don’t come only from those around you—you hold all of these beliefs yourself. If you are unaware of them, these negative beliefs can block health-promoting optimism by passing as unquestioned truth rather being revealed for what they are—a limiting way of looking at life.
There is no reality, only perception
Since awareness of our limiting beliefs is half the battle, let's get our negative beliefs about positive thinking out in the open where we can recognize them as choices of perception, rather than reality.
Optimists are not "facing reality"
Optimism is considered to be unrealistic, even though many more things go right in the world than go wrong. If this were not so, the whole planet would have ground to a halt long ago. Pessimists like to point out things that have gone wrong to support their point. Arguing with them is fruitless. The pessimistic mindset blinds the afflicted to noticing things that work—or if pessimists do notice a beneficial circumstance, it will be dismissed as an accident, an anomaly, ridiculously insignificant in the face of the world’s problems, or tainted by something bad that you just haven’t noticed yet.
Optimism breeds irresponsible behavior
Flaunt your optimism and pessimists (who will call themselves ‘realists’), will brand you irresponsible, since the assumption is that fear is the best motivator of good behavior. If you’re not worried, will you take care of yourself? If you’re not worried will you get checkups? If you’re not worried, will you comply with the doctor’s advice? If you’re not worried, will you submit to unpleasant therapies that compromise your quality of life?
Optimists are not prepared for the worst
"Expect the worst; you won’t be disappointed," is the pessimist’s motto. Pessimists see optimists as standing high on beautiful cliff over a dismal swamp that they are bound to fall in eventually. The pessimist believes he has saved himself from that startling drop by deliberately burrowing into the mud. However, not all optimists end up in the swamp, and those who do will probably find it an interesting place teeming with life, much to the irritation of the pessimists.
Optimism is childish
Expecting things to go well is considered to be childlike at best and delusional at worst. Grown-ups know better than to look on the bright side. Grown-ups know how much can go wrong, while children don’t have a clue. Worrying about possible problems shows you’re a concerned citizen who takes life seriously. Optimism shows you aren’t paying attention and are leaving the heavy lifting to others.
Those who perceive optimistically are healthier
If you notice yourself squelching your practice of positive thinking for fear of seeming irrational, silly, or unrealistic, remember that an optimistic thinking style is strongly correlated with health and longevity, while a pessimistic thinking style is strongly correlated with health problems and premature death. So next time a pessimist accuses you of not facing reality, tell them you're optimistic that the reality you're facing is better for you than theirs.