How to cure yourself of positive thinking

Somebody generally sent me a forward about 212 degrees. The gist of the story was that at 211 degrees (F), water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. And with boiling water comes steam. And with steam you can power a train. A wag commented, "That is all fine, but before you reach 212 degrees, you have to reach 211. There is no point in being so gung ho about the 212th degree if you do not have the capacity to reach 211.

In my opinion, entirely too much is made out of positive thinking. You cannot become an Olympic runner merely by thinking positively about it. In the first place you have to have serious talent. After that, you have to work had to hone that talent into a skill. Then you need luck (or perhaps an OBC certificate). THEN perhaps you may get to be an Olympic runner.

Come to think of it, this argument is not really so bad. Look at it this way. If EVERYBODY wanted to be an olympic runner and EVERYBODY thought positively, what would happen? Your talent and fitness etc would come into play right?

Then, is positive thinking bad? Not entirely I feel (notwithstanding my blogspot page title). It is a known fact that a feeling of goodness about oneself generally helps one work hard at whatever one wants provided it is in measured doses. If one goes about with the mindset that nothing is going to come out of whatever you thought of doing, then you will do nothing and nothing will come out.