A Scientist Tests the Theory of Positive Thinking

Dr. Elwood Worcester, in his book, Body, Mind and Spirit, relates the testimony of a world-famous scientist:
"Up to my fiftieth year I was an unhappy, ineffective man. None of the works on which my reputation rests were published. . . . I lived in a constant sense of gloom and failure. Perhaps my most painful symptom was a blinding headache which recurred usually two days of the week, during which I could do nothing.
"I had read some of the literature of New Thought, which at the time appeared to be buncombe, and some statement of William James on the directing of attention to what is good and useful and ignoring the rest. One say­ing of his stuck in my mind, 'We might have to give up our philosophy of evil, but what is that in comparison with gaining a life of goodness?', or words to that effect. Hitherto these doctrines had seemed to me only mystical theories, but realizing that my soul was sick and growing worse and that my life was intolerable, I determined to put them to the proof. . . . I decided to limit the period of conscious effort to one month, as I thought this time long enough to prove its value or worthlessness to me. During this month I resolved to impose certain restrictions on my thoughts. If I thought of the past, I would try to let my mind dwell only on its happy, pleasing incidents, the bright days of my childhood, the inspiration of my teachers and the slow revelation of my life-work. In think­ing of the present, I would deliberately turn my attention to its desirable elements, my home, the opportunities my solitude gave me to work, and so on, and I resolved to make the utmost use of these opportunities and to ignore the fact that they seemed to lead to nothing. In thinking of the future I determined to regard every worthy and pos­sible ambition as within my grasp. Ridiculous as this seemed at the time, in view of what has come to me since, I see that the only defect of my plan was that it aimed too low and did not include enough."
He then tells how his headaches ceased within one week, and how he felt happier and better than ever before in his life. But, he adds:
"The outward changes of my life, resulting from my change of thought have surprised me more than the in­ward changes, yet they spring from the latter. There were certain eminent men, for example, whose recognition I deeply craved. The foremost of those wrote me, out of a clear sky, and invited me to become his assistant. My works have all been published, and a foundation has been created to publish all that I may write in the future. The men with whom I have worked have been very helpful and cooperative toward me chiefly on account of my changed disposition. Formerly they would not have en­dured me. . . . As I look back over all these changes, it seems to me that in some blind way I stumbled on a path of life and set forces to working for me which before were against me." (Elwood Worcester and Samuel McComb, Body, Mind and Spirit, New York, Charles Scribner's Sons.)