Positive Thinking: Everything you have always known about positive thinking but were afraid to put into practice

Finally, you will find a Short Form, a type of mini-Script, that should be used during the night. If something bothers you during the day, you can wake up in the middle of the night and start thinking about it. At night, problems tend to become blown out of all proportion, monopolising your head, spiralling round and round endlessly, so that you find it impossible to go back to sleep.

The Short Form can be easily remembered and should be repeated in a mechanical way in your mind as you are lying in bed. Again, the positive content of the Short Form helps to relax your body, which is what you need to be able to go back to sleep. As there is nothing you can do in the middle of the night to solve your problem you might as well postpone thinking about it until the next day.

9 Communication (#ulink_766f74ea-1664-5ba0-a08d-790bb149d7bb)

• I hate arguments.

• I find it difficult to tell others what I want.

• When I feel hurt, I sulk.

Communication occurs on many levels and in various forms. It surrounds us everywhere, in letters, advertisements, films, on the radio. Messages are sent to us perpetually, and we respond to them. Communication enables us to stay in touch with the world around us and to send out and receive messages from other people.

Communication is immensely complex. Not only do we stay in touch with others by speaking and writing to them, we also express ourselves by using physical sign language. Even when we refuse to communicate we give a message to others.

Communication is vital to the development and maintenance of relationships. As relationships change over time, it becomes necessary to adjust to altered circumstances and inform others about our intentions and wishes. In order to make relationships satisfactory and effective, we need to learn about others and, at the same time, give out information about ourselves. We cannot expect other people to read our minds. It is up to us to let them know about our wishes and expectations.

Information does not have to be passed on verbally. The raising of the eyebrows can indicate to your partner that you doubt what he has just said or that you are amazed at the information received.

Physical language has many facets to it. A slight change in the tone of your voice, your facial expression, a tiny movement or change in posture that accompanies something you say can add extra information to its content. Body language can emphasise or tone down; it can convey that you are only joking or that you are giving away a secret. Through it we communicate much more than just words. When somebody does not maintain eye contact as he speaks to you, this has a number of effects. You may think he is shy and therefore you make an effort to put him at ease or you may think he is conceited, which annoys you and so you keep your replies to a minimum. You can see how easily mis-communication can occur: if you thought he was conceited when he was only shy your response would have been totally inappropriate, even more so if he had been blind.