Our minds are hard to control at the best of times. Have you ever tried not to think of blue elephants? Did a thought about a blue elephant just popped into your head? Is it even possible to control our thoughts so we only think of things we want? What about controlling our thoughts to the point of never or at least rarely thinking negative thoughts? How many people who think only good thoughts are there? So the first question is “Is it possible to control our thoughts?”
Psychological research says no. While it is possible to better manage thoughts as they arise using meditation and mindfulness, it is not possible for most people to prevent spontaneous thoughts from arising or to keep ourselves from thinking negative thoughts. In fact, in humans, the neocortex (the main area of conscious thought in the brain) developed during a harsh time in the environment, the Pleistocene era. Because our brains developed in a harsh environment, thinking negatively, seeking out problems and finding solutions was the best way to survive. So we are primed to think negatively, because it was adaptive at the time our brains developed and we became human.
Beyond the historical reasons for negative thinking, people who have been abused or traumatised tend to be on their guard for good reason (”Once bitten, twice shy.”) They also tend to be people who are struggling with life. So it would be easy to conclude their thinking pattern caused their problems when in fact, it is likely to be the opposite, their history of abuse is probably causing them to have protective thinking. When looking to change their lives, traumatised people may believe the Secret’s promise and think that their ‘negative’ thinking is the problem. This could lead them to blame themselves for their traumas (a very common victim experience) and lose whatever protection that thinking pattern may have given them. This could lead a traumatised person into further harm.
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