way it is good advice to tell people not to dwell upon their woes but to think of pleasant things instead, but it is liable to lead to a habit of thought almost as destructive as brooding over trouble. This negative application of what is meant to be good advice is responsible for the failure of those who say: “I have tried right-thinking, but it makes no difference.” The reason “it makes no difference” is that it is not right-thinking at all, but actually a form of wrong-thinking. Such people say: “I never indulge in wrong thoughts about my troubles, I refuse to think about them.” Just so, and it is here where the whole trouble lies. Instead of life’s troubles being met boldly and conquered in thought, they are run away from. As soon as the mind comes up against an unpleasant thought, a thought of an irksome duty that must be done, or of a crisis that must be faced, or of a difficulty that has to be overcome, the mind “dodges” it and flits on to something more pleasant. The one who says: “I never think of my troubles” and who runs away from unpleasant thoughts of this kind finds that he can never overcome the actual difficulties when they arise. In fact his so-called right
