The PSI factor in positive thinking

Having reached this chapter, you will by now be aware of the power that you possess and which, if you have not already put to good use, you soon will. I hope too that you are convinced that your inner power is a positive force and that to be effective it must always remain positive. PSI-FORCE exists in your mind but it will only be released with positive impulses. Believe in yourself. Believe in your ability. Believe in your power. Expel negative thoughts and feelings. Banish them from your mind! Negative thoughts and worries are like a cancer. They will spread through your mind and body until they destroy you. Positive thoughts will overcome them easily providing you allow them to. I am giving you this opportunity to write your own prescription and overcome the condition of depression, unhappiness and emotional insecurity. Be your own healer. Prescribe for yourself the most beneficial medicine in the world. POSITIVE THOUGHT. POSITIVE POWER. Write it out now. It's free! Psych yourself to think only in positive terms. Wake up in the morning and be grateful that you are alive to face the adventure of another day. Tell yourself that PSI power is going to make the day a good one for you. Believe that positive things will happen. Don't let the negatives get you down. Fight them with an army of positives.
Positive thinking leads to positive action which in turn can bring fulfillment and happiness in work and social activities. A positive attitude can turn business or school failure into success, despair into happiness, and if you have been ill, it can certainly help to make you healthy.
Before I show you how most effectively to use the PSI positive factor, let's see how much of a positive thinker you are. Try the following test answering each question with either: 'Yes' or 'Not sure' or 'No.'
The Positive Thought Quiz:
1. Do you think of yourself as younger than you really are?
2. Do you have self-confidence in abundance
3. Do you tend to do well under pressure?
4. Can classical music inspire you?
5. Are you opposed to the idea of retirement?
6. Do you have the opposite of an inferiority complex?
7. Do you sometimes think anything is possible?
8. Are there many occasions when you are fired by great enthusiasm?
9. Are you adept at turning bad luck into something good?
10. Are you very persistent once you start on a project?
11. Do other people consider you the energetic type?
12. Do you very rarely have gloomy thoughts?
13. Are you excited by new hobbies?
14. Do you often feel 'on top of the world'?
15. Do you crave the excitement of a new challenge?
Scoring: Give yourself 2 points for each 'Yes' answer, 1 point for 'Not sure' and 0 points for 'No.' Now add up your total score. If you scored 17 or more points the likelihood is that you are a positive thinker. That is a good start because with an attitude like yours, you are more likely than others to succeed in life and to make the most out of opportunities offered to you. But you must remember that many successes in life are attributed not so much to genius as to plain hard work and positive thinking! If you are a borderline case or fall well below 17 points, then you must re-assess your whole life and your image. A score of less than 17 does not mean you will be disadvantaged, but you have still to learn to overcome negative feelings. If you do you will be much happier with your lot. And happiness often brings greater success. You can become a positive thinker by building up confidence in yourself and by making a conscious effort to improve and cast out negative feelings. One of the best ways of doing this is to find out what you are really good at. It might be sport, music, writing, sewing. It might be computers, painting, quizzes, cooking or dancing. No matter what it is, work on it until you are so much in demand that other people come to you for help, advice and instruction with your particular skill - as people did in earlier days when they turned to the local scribe, for example, when they needed a letter to be written.
This will bring you respect from others and even more importantly, it will help you to increase your own self-respect. Then, use PSI power to influence others in the way I have shown you throughout this book. Let's face it, what is there about doctors or dentists that most people admire so much? The answer is knowledge. They have a specialised knowledge and skill which gives them extra status in the public's eye because theirs is considered to be a vital profession. But what you might not realise is that many doctors and dentists are very down-to-earth people who consider the skills of others to be no less important than their own. I have many medical practitioners among my friends and they will show as much respect for the skill of a mechanic who would mend their broken car as he would have for them for mending a broken limb. So, whatever your calling in life, do not underrate your own worth but concentrate on improving the skill you possess.
Even if you are a naturally positive person, which I believe I am, you must still learn to concentrate all your positive energies into making things happen. When I was wounded in the Six Day War, I was told by doctors that I would have incredible pain in my arm during the mending process and while receiving physiotherapy to straighten it. Although I was unable to move the wounded arm more than ten degrees, I insisted on playing basketball and continuing a normal life. I refused to acknowledge the pain and concentrated my mind on limiting the pain. Negative thoughts were telling me to feel sorry for myself and to stay in hospital. My positive thoughts told me I would forget the pain and continue as normal. Within a very short time I began using the arm again and within eight months I could almost straighten it without any pain at all. I do exactly the same with headaches and other maladies that afflict us all from time to time, but more of that later.
Positive thinking helped me win a promotion and rise from tea boy to a junior executive in an export company I worked for in Israel. I was young and confident and thought I had the world at my feet but after starting the job I felt quite insignificant and lost a lot of my self-respect. My self-importance vanished when instead of sitting at a smart desk, as I had imagined before starting work, I was made to be a lowly tea boy running errands. That's where PSI power came in. I was not going to let myself be or feel inferior for very long, so whenever the boss was in the room I would fix him with a concentrated stare - when he wasn't looking - and give him the following mental message: 'You have to keep Uri and give him a promotion. Make him a junior executive. Upgrade his position. He's worth every cent.'
It was not long after that that he called me into the office and said: 'Uri, I have a surprise for you. I'm giving you more responsibility and money. You're going to be a junior executive!' Well, it might have been a surprise for him, but it wasn't for me. I had convinced myself that through my positive PSI-FORCE energy I was going to get that promotion.
I also believe that positive thinking saved me from freezing to death on Japan's highest mountain on the island of Honshu. Mount Fuji is an extinct and beautiful volcano which rises to over 12,000 feet I own a holiday cottage near the base of this mountain in central Japan and late one afternoon I had the urge to jog to the summit. Being keen on physical fitness, a fifteen to twenty-five kilometer jog in a day is no problem. But mountains can be very cold and about two kilometers from the summit I began to suffer from the effects of hypothermia. I was only wearing a singlet and shorts and became quite shivery.
I became concerned. If I continued to the top my condition would worsen and my strength was rapidly leaving me with the extremely low temperatures of the late afternoon. Hanna, my wife, would not know where I was because I usually ran around Lake Yamanakako and by now it was too far and too late to turn back.
I knew, however, that there was a car park and restaurant at the top of the mountain and that cars would soon be making their way off the mountain. I could hitch a lift with one of them. With that I made for the road, but despite my sorry look and digital pleadings, nobody stopped. Japanese people do not like stopping for hitch-hikers so I still had to find a solution to my problem.
I needed to get off the mountain and I would not give up with the cars. Someone would have to take me. Positive thought: that was what was required. I would have to stop a car using PSI power and the positive thought factor. I figured that the next car that came around the bend would be my taxi and confidently told it to stop. 'Stop, stop, stop,' I repeated in my mind. But nothing happened. If only I could speak Japanese. I then began to visualise the following scene. I saw myself in the centre of the road with a red car bearing down on me. The car would have to stop and I would be invited inside. I imagined a young couple in their twenties driving the car.
And then it happened. Within five minutes a red Toyota car screeched to a halt in the middle of the road. I was standing at the roadside but the car stopped as if it was avoiding an obstacle. I went over to the car and two young people just looked at me in surprise. I indicated, using my hands, that I would like a lift with them down the mountain. They were thrilled when I told them who I was because they had seen me on Japanese television. My positive thinking had stopped their car and saved me from freezing.
I had used similar mental energy some time earlier when I stopped an escalator and a mountain chairlift in Germany. Thinking of Germany reminds me of another example of positive thought, but with a little spice added to it. I hasten to mention that at the time of this story, I was a footloose and fancy-free bachelor and could therefore be excused from my positive but naughty thoughts.
I was in Munich at the time and as part of my daily exercise I would run through the town's English Garden where lots of extremely pretty girls sunbathed semi-nude in summer. Invariably, they would be lying face down to preserve their modesty; and like every hot-blooded bachelor I was keen to see the bits they were hiding. To do so, I told myself, required positive thought power and I imagined a situation where two of the girls were being buzzed by a giant hornet. I concentrated my energies on these two girls and relayed a telepathic message: 'Watch out! watch out! A hornet is coming. Get up quickly!' With that both girls jumped up looking terrified but on seeing me they giggled with embarrassment while fumbling to hide what I had set out to see.
The positive principle
Through mind control you must learn to separate your problems and put them in different compartments in your brain. Otherwise they will blur other and more important issues and not allow you to operate at maximum efficiency. If a problem gets you down, your judgment could be vitally affected in crucial issues so you must learn to look at your problems from afar. Treat them as if they are not your worries but somebody else's. The secret is to shut out and block niggling fears and worries and concentrate on more important matters. There are several ways of doing this and through trial and error you can find which one suits you best.
I suggest that you clear your mind entirely, shut your eyes, and meditate. This can be done anywhere. In an office, at your desk, anywhere at all where you can find a few moments to yourself. You can then imagine a series of 'in' and 'out' trays or 'pending' trays or even little boxes in your mind. Put your work in one of these trays, your leisure in another, personal relationships in yet another and your negative thoughts in the last box. Say to yourself: 'I will shut that box and now concentrate on another box.' Do whichever activity you want to concentrate on. You can create any number of boxes to suit the occasion. If you want a box for difficult decisions, create one and then slam down the lid and lock it up until you want to examine the problem again. Having learned to do this, say to yourself that you will not let the problem box interfere with you, that you have too many important decisions and other positive matters to contend with. By doing this you may never need to open the problem box at all. A lot of difficulties are solved with the passage of time, and through 'sleeping' on them when your subconscious mind takes over and solves the problem without wasting your conscious energies.
Never allow problems to keep you awake at night. When you are tired or sleepy it is the worst time for solving problems and you must learn to shut the door on these detrimental influences as otherwise your capacity to cope will be further impaired the next day through lack of sleep.
If I have difficulty in sleeping at night, here's what I do. The minute I hit bed I visualise a large master switch and see myself walking across to it and turning it off. That also switches off all my problems and I have a pleasant sleep. If the problem is one that will not go away, like illness, then I suggest you lessen its seriousness by making comparisons with those less fortunate than yourself. Look to the positive side, no matter what. A friend of mine almost despaired after being thrown from a show jumper into a tree. He broke many bones in his body which his doctors said would take a considerable time to heal. I cheered him up by pointing out how lucky he was. He would make a full recovery. That's the positive side. The accident was so serious that he could easily have been paralysed for life and confined to a wheelchair, and at worst, he could have broken his neck and died.
Whenever you want to use your PSI-FORCE to maximum effect, you must try and relax your body completely. Look on it as a brief period of battery charging before the positive energy begins to flow again. I will say more about this when we come to the subject of health but it is important to mention here that the stronger your health and the fitter you are, the better you will be able to use your PSI energy to deal with problems as they arise. I have even found it possible to meditate on a crowded London tube train, so don't think it is essential to wait until you get home and into the privacy of your room before you can start this very important process.
Worries
There are some worries we all have that will never be solved or go away, yet we still express concern about them. Why? Because we are all insecure to some extent and we need reassurance and comfort. I am not suggesting you become totally self-reliant but I would certainly recommend that you try and solve those worries by yourself. Get help, certainly, but don't idly discuss worries just for the sake of it.
That is being negative. It may sound cynical, but why worry when it doesn't matter? So much energy and time is wasted on useless worries. Worry can be like a disease and your body must resist it.
PSI power can help you solve your problems with positive energy. Although you are in a position to shut off a problem or worry, you may still have to solve it. Don't run away from problems. Dissect and analyse them in a positive way. Find out the main ingredients of the problem. Consider and identify what it is you are actually trying to achieve to get over it. Think through carefully the different ways there are of tackling it. Write them down. Don't ever be frightened to ask the professionals for help. If you have a money problem, bank managers are much more sympathetic if you discuss the issue with them instead of ignoring their letters and hoping they will go away. See them personally, communicate with them and give them a good impression of yourself. All they will really be interested in is whether you are a reliable person who will pay his debt. Tell them what they want to hear and then do what you have promised. In future you will be able to negotiate loans over the telephone because you will have established a favourable 'track record.'
Relationships can be a constant source of worry and upset and negative feelings, but much of that is caused by low self-esteem. Don't be a slave to other people's emotions. Psych yourself to be strong and not worry about temporary breakdowns. Many people play psychological games of dominance over others. You must learn to read the signs when those games are being played. Listen to what is being said. If statements are made as a deliberate untruth, their purpose may be to upset you and make you vulnerable. Don't fall for it. Let your PSI power make you independent and impervious to hurtful suggestions and malicious gossip. People will accept you for what you are today, not for what someone told them you were yesterday.
Most highly successful people could not care less for things said about them behind their back. They are confident enough in their self-esteem and position not to let it bother them. It is a sign of insecurity to allow yourself to be plagued with negative feelings arising from petty jealousies and gossip. And the people who matter and who like and respect you won't usually allow their feelings to be influenced unduly. Tell yourself not to worry. Say to yourself that you will not be affected by negative feelings and comments and then forget they were ever made. You will be surprised how quickly they will disappear.
Rationalise your failures
I don't think there is anyone alive today who at some stage or another has not had to cope with failure. Positive thinking can turn that failure into success. Learn to treat failure not as a personal loss but as an important lesson for the future. Today's failure could make a millionaire of you tomorrow. Let me give you a shining example of that. One of the world's best-selling authors whose books are read by millions and have been turned into popular TV series - Kane and Abel and The Prodigal Daughter, were just two of his successful ones - was not so long ago an unhappy bankrupt. He had placed all his own money, and a lot more which he borrowed, into a Canadian company that went bust. With debts of nearly a million dollars he could have slipped away quietly and stayed a bankrupt for the rest of his life.
Instead, Jeffrey Archer picked himself up and wrote a book about his experiences. It was called Not a Penny More Not a Penny Less and became the forerunner to making him a millionaire author. He was able to pay back all his debts and now owns a beautiful penthouse overlooking the Thames in London as well as a country manor near Cambridge. No matter how adverse the circumstances, his positive thought power conquered his past failure and made him a greater success than he had been before his bankruptcy.
The author Frederick Forsyth was once a hard-up freelance reporter. No one was very interested in his impassioned representation of the Biafran case during his reporting of the Nigerian Civil War. He returned to Britain and wrote a series of novels like The Day of the Jackal which made him a multi-million dollar fortune.
Another success story is that of the English publisher Robert Maxwell, who I have met at a society party in London. Bob has an air of total confidence and is notable for the aura surrounding him. Yet in the early seventies, a government report said he was unfit to lead a public company. His was a classic rags to great riches story. He was born in Eastern Europe of humble Czech parents and fled from the Nazis who had murdered members of his family. Today, this unstoppable workaholic tycoon - who is chauffeured in a lilac Rolls Royce - is the head of one of the largest newspaper empires in Britain, a successful book publishing company, satellite television interests and is regularly featured in financial newspapers for his company takeover bids and further acquisitions. Instead of being considered a failure, he is today a captain of industry.
A victim of circumstances
All of us are, to some degree, victims of circumstance. Our view of life and our actions are the product of the influences surrounding our upbringing and our experiences. PSI growth can make you aware of how those circumstances have affected you, and once you understand the reasons, positive thought power can help you either grow out of your product self or, if you are happy as you are, maintain your status quo. If you are unhappy and cannot come out of yourself, then you are in danger of being a slave to those circumstances which have adversely affected you.
Take the role of a housewife. That is a very important role to my mind, because traditionally the matriarchal figure is one of strength who holds together a family and runs the house. Because of pressures in our society, many mothers feel threatened with this traditional role - of which in the past they were proud, holding themselves in considerable self-esteem. In today's world, women have changed their views considerably and many mothers feel that a career is as important, if not more, than the traditional role. In fact some traditional role mothers feel their self-respect is threatened by not going out to work. The purpose of this book is not to argue the merits of either side but to reassure both modern and traditional mothers that what they choose to do and are happiest doing is the right decision and they should take no notice at all of those critical of them for their choice of direction. You must do as you wish and not feel a loss of self-respect simply because others are doing the opposite. Staying at home with the children does not mean you will stop pursuing interests and skills. They are just as available at home as in the office. In some ways it is even better than 'vegetating' in a boring office job. Similarly, a woman who chooses a career in preference to staying at home can still give her children and family all the love and care they need without suffocating them.
The important principle to be constantly aware of is to psych yourself against unnecessary and cruel comments which are inevitably made. Feel proud of your role. Be confident and happy about it. Tell yourself that what you are doing is the right thing and nobody can change that position. Be positive. If you are happy with your lot, nobody can take that happiness away.
Some people tend to 'give up' and accept their role as the victim. You hear them say: 'I'm always the one who is blamed,' or 'I'm always choosing the wrong partner' or 'It doesn't happen to anybody else . . .' Why is it that some people make the same mistake time after time? The prime reason is that they have not given their minds time to think about their failure and turn it into a success. PSI meditation and positive thinking could change all this. Use the techniques in communication which you have learned to 'interview' the person with whom you want a relationship. Think back on your past experiences and send out positive vibes to the other person.
I can never stress enough that, no matter what your background, you should never feel 'inferior' to other people and therewith accept certain situations that could with positive PSI power be avoided or overcome. Your positive PSI will tell you that you are as good as the next man, whether he employs you or teaches you.
I will never forget the story which was told to me by an American friend whose cousin, a pretty young Philadelphian girl, married an English mill worker during the Second World War. It was a perfect example of negative acceptance, although I hasten to add that it nevertheless had a happy ending.
The Englishman had been called up to serve in the British Navy and his ship sailed to the East Coast of America where he met the girl. They became sweethearts and married before his ship sailed back to Britain. After the war, the British government flew his wife to Wigan in Lancashire where they began a happily married life and had two children. Before the war, some of the Lancashire mills had been putting men off work and this mill worker, in common with others, had no security in his job. Matters did not improve after the war either, although the young couple were very content. Like all young women, she wanted desperately to show her children to her mother back home in Philadelphia and was given a one-way fare by her mother for this purpose.
She returned to America but could not afford to come back to her husband because he was out of work again. Sadly, the pair accepted their fate and although they loved one another they agreed to divorce because they could not get back together. Both remarried and each had two further children by their new spouses. She kept in touch with her first husband by sending Christmas cards. Thirty years on, she wrote to say her husband had died leaving her a wealthy widow. By an amazing coincidence, his second wife had also just died and she suggested they meet again. This time she flew over with her own money and they married for a second time round! While this is a beautiful and true story, I could never have accepted the fact that my loved one would be away from me for ever. I would want to swim the ocean rather than 'accepting my fate.' Yet in their own way, both these people were positive about their future but not secure enough about their position in life. What would you have done? How would you have used PSI-FORCE to bring you together?
Your physical self
So much importance is placed on physical appearance that there is a natural tendency to feel second-rate if you do not look like a Miss World or have the physical stature of Tarzan. But just look at the way positive thinkers have conquered their shortcomings. Many cruel comments have been passed about short men but think how successful lots of short men have been. Have they strived harder to overcome what they considered to be a personal 'failing'? Would anyone have dared look down on Napoleon, on Charlie Chaplin, on Aristotle Onassis?
The deposed Shah of Iran, who was also a short man, had a most effective way of teaching others to respect his 'height.' Whenever the country's newspapers printed photographs of him with the Queen or dignitaries, he was inevitably represented as being taller than the others. I inquired of one of his ministers how this was so and was quite taken aback to be given the following explanation: 'Ah,' said the ruler's confidant, 'the Shah invites the editors of the newspaper to a few days "protective custody and instruction" if they slip up and make him look shorter in the published photographs.'
Once you have accomplished something, you are not remembered so much for your physical shell as for what you represent. Your physical appearance becomes a visual identification factor only and you are recognised for your inner self. And everyone has the capacity of making their inner self appear beautiful, attractive, and interesting.
Regrets
Don't waste time regretting the past. Rationalise your mistakes. Just as you did with failures, treat them as another learning process and get on with your life. There is absolutely no point in negative thoughts about what could have been if you had only done so and so. Shut your eyes and relax your mind. Tell yourself that what has happened is no longer of any consequence. Put it out of your mind. Close the lid on regrets. Tell yourself that whatever happened was going to happen anyway and that you could not avoid the inevitable. At least you now have the chance to start again. Think about today, not yesterday.
Prayer can be a very helpful aid in defeating negative thoughts and eliminating unhappiness. It can be used as a form of meditation, a PSI process where negative thoughts are dispelled and where you can come to terms with what has happened before and recharge your batteries for the present. People with a strong faith and belief have a very positive side to their character which can assist them greatly with troubles in life.
A complex fantasy
Everybody talks about the complexity of life. But what about the complexes themselves? We are riddled with them. Our comic books are based on them. Take Superman: he is the same physical person as Clark Kent, reporter. But does Lois fancy Clark? No. She is in love with the image of super-strength. She also shows a very poor understanding of PSI because with proper communication she would soon tell that Clark has the same qualities as Superman. That great humourist Woody Allen is always missing out on beautiful girls on the screen. To some extent he probably does in real life too, but because he has become famous by screening his complexes, I am sure there are countless women who would be more than willing to share those complexes with him.
If through PSI you overcome pessimism in small matters, you will then be able to handle larger disappointments. Count the number of times, if you can, when you have been a nervous wreck about deciding what to wear to a party. Was it worth the worry? If you were concerned about being overdressed then you were probably the centre of attraction because you were 'different.' Or alternatively, nobody cared anyway. What about the times you have been worried about arriving late for a dinner or an appointment only to find that the hostess wasn't ready anyway or the other person was late? I don't advocate being late, but once you are, there is precious little you can do about it, so why worry. Make the most of it with positive thoughts. Instead of worrying about it, make up a good excuse. The positive person is the one who has fallen into the ditch but always comes up 'smelling of roses.'
From now on refuse to accept that you will be the last person to be served in a shop. Make your presence felt through PSI Don't be afraid to complain about a restaurant meal if it is bad. Do it politely but communicate effectively. Don't ask meekly if it is all right for you to walk into a room. Do so proudly. Don't put yourself down. Stop being a victim and an underdog. You are just as important as anybody else. Think positively. Think PSI!