BRIGHT-SIDED OR NOT: A Book Review and Analytical thoughts on Positive and Negative Thinking

Bright-Sided by Barbara Ehrenreich is quite the opposite of its title. This author is quite cynical and doesn’t hold back her feelings on what she thinks about positive thinking being the end of America as we know it. She not only feels that this way of thinking is dangerous and unhelpful, but is much like religion. She believes that religion has a lot of positive thinking that is just purely for someone else’s gain and not the congregations.

In a religious setting many preachers try to lead their lambs as if the preachers themselves were shepherds, but what if the shepherds were really wolves in shepherds clothing. Barbara points this out when speaking about Joel Osteen, a Pentecostal preacher who believes that a person must think positively and have faith in order to have good things happen to them. If something good isn’t happening to them it’s because their faith is not enough.

I have had the great positive pleasure of seeing a few of Mr. Osteen’s ministries on T.V. late at night and quite honestly this author nails it on the head. Barbara talks about the “reprograming” that Pentecostals like Osteen do to their followers. Osteen likes to send messages to his followers that positive thinking will help God reward them in this life and the next. Mainly though Osteen emphasizes that if you keep thinking positively and praising God that you will get material wealth and/or riches. However, this is undermining to his congregation. Just because a member may be poor has nothing to do with whether or not that member of his church thinks positively or not. Positive thinking doesn’t necessarily fix a situation or help a person out.

A lot of times positive thinking may hinder a person. If a member of Osteen’s congregation keeps thinking positively and nothing good happens to him then, maybe, he will end up killing himself or worse take it out on the church/ Osteen. He will think that either religion or God is a sham. Not so much his way of doing things.

Barabara Ehnreich believes positive thinking is sent to undermine all Americans this way. She points out when she had cancer that she felt undermined. All she wanted to do was be angry and negative, but the Dr.’s and nurses told her to think positively. Some patients blamed themselves for even getting the cancer because they weren’t being positive enough.

The parallel between the Pentecostals positive thinking and the cancer patients who think they weren’t positive enough is the kind of damage mentally Barabra argues that positive thinking all the time can do. The fact that those patients have cancer and think that they caused it due to not being positive enough is a somber thought. That thought shows trying to always be positive could also be a form of self-harm because it can lead self-hate. Barbara argues that positive thinking is crippling people emotionally and otherwise.

While I completely disagree with her assessment of the way she got cancer and a lot of other issues during this portion due to the fact we now know more from studies that have come out about hormone replacement and cancer; Barbara has a valid point. Many times Doctors and nurses assume that they need to keep patients cheerful. This is to help patients continue what they have left of their life happily or to help make them feel better about their situation.

Unfortunately, everyone deals with issues in their lives differently and that is something that just isn’t brought up enough to people treating cancer patients or those with other illnesses. Barbara didn’t want teddy bears and kids-crayons because this made her feel more alienated from humanity than she previously had felt. She felt demeaned by this obnoxious gesture of cheer. And I would argue there are many people who feel the same way about religion.

We all know those over the top Christians (could be any religion but this is just an example) who where the crosses and fish jewelry like they were going to end up at the rapture this moment. These Doctors and nurses are just like the over-the-top Christians who constantly speak in public, about God, Christianity, the Bible, and how everything relates to God and the Bible. They constantly try to push their beliefs on you and even if you are Christian they make you feel as if you are a worthless one. You just aren’t doing enough and you definitely aren’t wearing enough crosses or going to church enough.

These types of Christians will find something about you that you need to fix. Oddly enough they never seem to understand what I mean when I tell them they should read Matthew 7:3. These types of Christians demean other Christians by their obnoxiously positive thinking and positivity towards religion. This can definitely turn off a non-believer in a heartbeat or even make a believer an agnostic. Some people are turned off by obnoxious positive over the top Christians the same way Barbara was turned off by childish gifts that were supposed to be helpful to her. I agree with this author that positivity does seem to have a dark side and sometimes reality in dealing with issues brings about a better outcome.

However, I do believe this author was a bit too dark-sided. While I see where she’s coming from and obviously agree with her on some points she really needs to start thinking about being a bit less cynical.

Sometimes positive thinking does help a situation, but it is okay to be upset when things go wrong. It’s also okay to have a more realistic outlook on your situation then to be like a giant smiley face all the time. Barbara and I could definitely have a good debate going on, because it is actually proven that positivity can help your immune system and self-esteem.

In Japan, Dr. Masaru Emoto actually proved that positive thinking as well as thoughts in general have an impact on our environment including ourselves. In the 1990s he did an experiment to prove this theory with water. Emoto and his team spoke to the water crystals while the photographers took pictures and labeled them. They noted at the end of the results that the water in the pictures that had been told something negative had a horrid look to it, but that the water that had been spoken to in a positive way (praying, saying I love you, You’re beautiful etc.) had beautiful perfectly shaped crystals almost like a perfect snow flake in the photo.

Now, if simple water can change with words like that and a little positivity what can our human body do? Please keep in mind the human body is 60 percent water and this experiment was done with water. Thinking before we speak is more important than what we previously thought. And maybe all those Doctors/nurses trying to help the cancer patients might just have a reason to tell them to think positively.

In fact, if we look at the Bible for the religious aspects of this, God does say to be positive. God even states that it is good medicine to be positive. Proverbs 17:22 “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”

Christianity is not the only religion that believes something similar to this. Many other eastern religions also believe positive outlooks help heal the mind, body and soul. Buddhism amongst other eastern religions use positive thinking and meditation as medicine much like we would use an antibiotic. Most of Buddha’s thinking is a positive enlightenment, which creates the religion.

I also believe this author is too down on other cancer patients or survivors who display positivity. She is sensitive to the way that she feels about all the positivity around her and that she just wants to scream at the world, but she doesn’t seem to be sensitive to others needs. A lot of people who are diagnosed with cancer or have a bad prognosis try to think positively or be positive not because they are “disillusioned”, as the author tries to vividly point out, but because they do not want to spend their last days upset, bitter, or negative. It is not that the patients are in an alternate reality of cancerland (similar to candyland), but that they view their cancer with such reality that they make a change to their thinking. They like Christians who are born again decide to do more with the time they have left and be happier than they were in their non-carcinogen state.

Of course, survivors of cancer will also still have the reality that cancer can reoccur, but these survivors also remain positive and feel more positive after beating cancer. This is not because they feel they are part of a group, but because they are alive.

I feel like this author doesn’t realize what a great gift it is to be alive. This author claims to be a realist, but often throughout the book comes off more like a pessimist. When she talks about the cancer groups for survivors kicking out someone who has reoccurring cancer it makes me think she may just be making some of this up for her book and/or for entertainment value.

If it is a real scenario that the author saw occur that’s just awful, but if it’s not and she is using this for entertainment value or exaggeration shame on her! I have known some of my friends mothers who were part of cancer survivor groups and unfortunately they got cancer back, but no one from their groups kicked them out. The people from these groups felt absolutely awful and in fact stepped up to the plate to help with these women’s families etc. The author treats cancer groups like a bad Bible study where the members kick out another member just because they seem questionable or immoral.

While this may occur in some puritan churches or within a Calvinist view of religion this has nothing to do with trying to stay positive. Kicking out a member for any reason is not only denial, but also a sick sense to keep the disease/sin away from you. As if the other members would catch it. This has to do more with negative or too much realistic thinking if you ask me. Because when you think realistically this member may be a bad influence on the group or stop group morale in its tracks then you may want to kick a person out. If you’re thinking positively you would hope that the groups positive aspects will take effect on the member that is problematic or having problems.

Overall, I found Barbara Ehrenreich’s book interesting and a cynical perspective on positivity. I do see her point that positivity can cripple, but I wish the author had realized positivity is only used as a weapon in the wrong hands such as corrupt churches or organizations. Her comparison of religions and churches are on point with positivity having its drawbacks, but she doesn’t have a lot of positive feedback on religion and/or religious organizations in her book to go off of.

I think she completely misses some good points of positivity especially from a religious aspect. A lot of people in congregations keep believing or going back to church because it has worked for them. Again, she’s not open to others ways of thinking, but just her own pink-hating self.

I also wish the author would see that Americans, while positive, aren’t disillusioned to what’s going on around them, but they do wish to live a certain lifestyle just as she wishes to be more cynical. I truly believe she needs to look closer on the bright-side of things and see how her life changes, but realistically that probably won’t happen. Positive thinking is not the end of America, religion, the health system or humanity, but when used incorrectly can be harmful like so many other things. Positive thinking can help, but the idea that someone must be positive 100% of the time is not healthy either. There should be a balance to things. A ying and yang.