Accent on the Positive

One of the ideas put forward in a lot of New Age/self-improvement thinking is the idea that we should focus on the positive - rather than saying, for example, "I am not fearful" we should say, "I am courageous." Your subconscious, so the thinking goes, doesn't pay attention to the word "not" and pays all too much attention to the word "fearful." This idea came up in today's daily reading of C.S. Lewis (courtesy of Bible Gateway), where he writes:

If you asked twenty good men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you had asked almost any of the great Christians of old, he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance. The negative idea of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love.

This quote is from The Weight of Glory and I think it adds an additional level to the idea of positive thinking. The additional level points out where our focus lies. If I focus on myself - on my action, lack of action, virtue, sin, suffering, happiness, etc. - I will miss the point. If I give with the intention that I should be thought well of because of my generosity, then I am giving in a mean-spirited fashion. This week we are discussing altruism in my social psychology classes and I think this idea of focusing on being generous rather than being unselfish, or loving others rather than denying ourselves, will add to those conversations as well.