Can 24 hours of positive thinking change us?

While rummaging through some books Pops gave me, I came across a hardback copy of "The Power of Positive Thinking" by Norman Vincent Peale. It was next to "The Tao of Pooh" by Benjamin Hoff.

I'm usually drawn to anything Pooh first, but for some reason picked up the Peale work and started thumbing through some pages. Now I'm not going to get into the good or bad of Peale, who died on Dec. 24, 1993, at the age of 95.

Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan, Peale has plenty of critics who cite his unsubstantiated sources and questionable scientific studies.

But one passage jumped off the page at me while I was thumbing through his book:

For the next 24 hours, deliberately speak hopefully about everything, about your job, about your health, about your future. Go out of your way to talk optimistically about everything. This will be difficult, for possibly it is your habit to talk pessimistically.

This passage is the first of seven steps Peale says people need to follow to change their outlook from negative to positive.

Sounds simple, although I know it's not. But it can't hurt to give it a try. So here I go:

-- I believe my new resolution to eat healthier and drink less alcohol is a good thing and I am hopeful water will eventually taste as good as bourbon.

-- I am hopeful people everywhere will stop turning guns on one another in the belief that it will solve a problem.

-- I am hopeful all those children getting ready to return to school who want to learn will have a teacher patient enough to teach them. I hope all those teachers who want to teach will have students patient enough to learn.

-- I am selfishly optimistic people will realize newspapers – whether on paper or digital versions – are important to the world and they will continue to find value in them.

-- I believe I can fly. I believe I can touch the sky. I think about it every night and day. Spread my wings and fly away. I believe I can soar. I see me running through that open door. I believe I can fly ... Ummmmm. Wait a minute. That's an R Kelly song. Sorry about that.

This is going to be a tough 24 hours – but on the positive side, I remain hopeful I can do it.

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