Beat Toxic Thought Pollution!!

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THE WAR IS WON OR LOST BETWEEN YOUR EARS---So Control the Battlefield

In a country and world full of toxic thought pollution, there are things you can do to insure your sanity and your spirit. Two thought-starting quotes:

"I read somewhere that the son's getting hotter every year," said Tom, genially, "It seems that pretty soon the earth's going to fall into the sun---or wait a minute---it just the opposite---the sun's getting colder every year."
--- F. Scott Fitzgerald, THE GREAT GATSBY

"Life is sweet. But you could spend a long time reading, going to the movies and watching TV, and not hear this mentioned...Right now, at the end of the second millenium, is the best moment of all time, and right here, in the United States, is the best place to be at that moment. And do I hark to sounds of glee echoing amidst purple mountains' majesty and rolling across the fruited plains? No, I hear America whining, crybaby to the world...A colossus that stood astride the earth now lies on the floor, pounding its fists and kicking its feet, transformed into a fussypant sand a sputter-budget --- Everybody wants to save the earth. Nobody wants to help Mom do the dishes."
--- P.J. O'Rourke, ALL THE TROUBLE IN THE WORLD

Every good personal development trainer, empowerment course, parent, drug and rehabilitation counselor, psychologist, sales manager, or coach will tell you: avoid negative environments. Think positive. However, most of us come to realize "thinking positive" on a consistent basis is not easy.

Susan Jeffers observes, "As you know, positive thinking is not a new concept...Norman Vincent Peale, Napoleon Hill, Maxwell Maltz, and others popularized the concept many years ago. Their boooks are still available today. So why don't people think more positively? My guess is that people don't understand what being a positive thinker requires. It takes a special commitment and requires a great deal of practice. Once you get it all down perfectly, a maintenance program is a must. I know of none who has been able to make 'positive' a permanent way of thinking without practice. Such people may exist; I simply haven't met them. In my experience, if you don't practice, you lose the skill. This is the point most people don't understand.

"I know that it doesn't seem fair that you automatically become negative when you stop practicing the positive. I liken it to exercise. Once you get your body in shape, you can't stop working out...I know most people resist the fact that constant practice is required or we would all be positive thinkers."

As Susan says, those who have chosen to proactively think positively have met with limited success. They'll buy a book or set of tapes and feel temporarily rejuvenated. They'll get a divorce or leave a debillitating job situation, often finding themselves in a new, similarly distasteful relationship or company. They'll get counselling, which can be effective, but usually is employed only after the damage is beyond tolerability. They'll attend a course and get a spike in their attitude. They'll set goals and, perhaps, repeat affirmations. But most people, sooner or later, run out of steam and the prevailing attitudes they have brought with them from childhood re-establish their dreary reign.

Like many desirable things, such as exercising, moderating one's appetite, or kicking an addiction, most of us would agree the problem is a little more complex than simply "practicing." The key that will help you to practice effectively and benefit from a positive attitude is: CONTROL YOUR ENVIRONMENT. Become selective about what's in the air around you.

By "environment," you know we're not talking about industrial air pollution, we're talking something more sinister: thought pollution. Thought pollution takes many toxic forms, all of which are disempowering at the core. Thousands of times each day you can hear it, read it, and feel it. The central message is that you are limited, incapable, disabled, imperfect, and futile. It can be direct, and it can be subtle. It comes to us from every direction: relatives, friends, peers, news media, entertainment media, advertising, politicians, and cultural leaders. Most, though DEFINTELY NOT ALL, of it is well-intended. Its cumulative effect over years can be as deadly to the spirit as tobacco smoke is to the body.

You may be bombarded with negativism from your spouse and close friends. Your work associates may grouse about business conditions and decisions that are made by others and out of their control. You may revisit old childhood tapes that still replay in your head, telling you "No, no, no, no, no, you can't!" And you may read the daily newspaper or watch television and get the daily bad news.

Roger Dawson tells a pertinent story of four Special Forces soldiers, three men and one woman, who found themselves in a sticky combat situation. They were in a big Jeep on a narrow jungle road and they began taking fire from positions ahead of them. They first pulled the Jeep to a stop and then had the frightening realization that the jungle road offered no room to turn around!

The command sergeant paused and said, "Well, it seems we have three choices. One, we can keep going forward, and I don't like our chances. Two, we can leave the vehicle, try to get back on foot, and hope they don't follow. I don't like our chances with that, either. Or three, we can all get out of the Jeep, and pick it up and turn it around. Want to do that?"

The other three soldiers nodded. They sprang out of the Jeep and each went to a corner fender.

"When i count to three, let's go," said the sergeant. "Ready, one. two, three!!" The four comrades picked up the Jeep---and turned it around!! Of course they made a successful escape, or we wouldn't know the story. But there's more.

When their comrades heard about it, one wiseguy started a betting pool. He raised a thousand dollars from several buddies and bet the four heroes that they couldn't re-enact picking up the Jeep and turning it around in the friendly confines of the base. Since they had done it once, the four took the bet.

They showed up in the middle of the grounds, surrounded by the soldiers who had bet against them, and took their stations at the four corners of the Jeep. They could not budge it!

The difference the second time was not only a lower level of adrenaline from desire, but back in the jungle there was no one there telling them they couldn't do it. And there had been no time to think about why they might not be able to do it.

We do not have to wait for life and death situations to appreciate the impact the environment has on even the strongest among us. It is so important, in fact, that one of the critical choices we will make in life is to intentionally choose to be in a positive environment socially, family-wise, and in our career. Circumstances may prohibit our ridding ourselves entirely of toxic thought pollution, but at least we can steer ourselves in a predominantly empowering direction.

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Footnote: this line of reasoning may be the most fundamental for our mutually supporting each other in ways we choose, like participating in 9/12 and Tea Party groups, encouraging our favorite talk radio hosts, bloggers and TV networks that are on the direct firing line, going to church, participating in study groups etc.


The preceding is reprinted from "The Pinnacle Living Learning System". Originally published 1999. Slightly edited 8/5/2010 by its author---Me!!

Don't leave the Porch without suggesting other ways we can eliminate toxic thought pollution!!