Wishful thinking

- By Bruno Gideon

Valentine’s Day was this week, and it brought to my mind a friend who is unlucky in love. He is always flirting with women who are obviously incompatible with him. Each time, he believes he can break his pattern of failure, as if wishing will make this relationship turn out right. Of course, things go south on him once again and he’s ready for his next calamity. He is flirting with disaster!

Stop the habit of wishful thinking and start the habit of thoughtful wishes
– Mary Martin

If a man could have half of his wishes, he would double his troubles.
– Benjamin Franklin

The crazy thing is, my friend knows things are not going to turn out well. He has the strange satisfaction each time of telling himself, “I told you so.” Like many of us, he is caught in a web of negative self-fulfilling prophecies. His only hope is to begin to have positive thoughts: looking for romance in all the right places – a romance that is likely to turn out well because of his compatibility with the object of his desire. Perhaps what will motivate him is thinking of how much more satisfying his “I told you so” is going to be this time.

What about you? Ever had too many negative thoughts?

- By Bruno Gideon