The Big Scam!

For decades—especially in the United States, but throughout the world—people have been sold the same old fake psychology, merely repackaged under new names and clever marketing to appear original. Titles such as The Tapping Solution Foundation, Power of Your Identity, Neurogym, Avatar, The Secret, The Forum, Mind Control, and others all promote the same message.

The age-old claim is this:

You supposedly have the power within your own mind to change how you see yourself, think about yourself, and feel about yourself—and, by extension, the world around you. And that this alone is all you need to feel good about yourself and to be successful in life.

The promise is that through thought repetition—“affirmations”—you can permanently change how you think and feel about yourself, others, and the world around you.

This is the oldest big scam in the history of mankind. It has fooled millions of people worldwide, many of whom have paid thousands of dollars for it. And it is a complete lie that will never work.

How do I know?

I am a American counselor, a Mexican psychologist and professional spiritual director.  When I was 19 years old and in college, I was depressed, suicidal, anxious, insecure, and began cutting (self-mutilating). I used every material and human coping mechanism available in an attempt to try feel better. 

I bought into this big scam, after reading the book Mind Control. I believed that all I had to do was repeatedly think positive thoughts—affirmations—and I could talk myself out of depression, anxiety, and insecurity and into confidence and happiness forever.

And for a time, I thought it worked—because I stopped feeling depressed.

But only for about nine years.

The truth is, I never stopped self-medicating: substances (smoking, drinking, getting high), media (music, movies), and the selfish use of other people (sex, attention-seeking, partying). Those were the only things distracting me from the reality of my real pathetic level emotional and relational functioning.

I could function socially and financially. I could party well. But when I was alone, I was emotionally suffering.

Objectively, I had little moral truth and little virtue. I had no wisdom, no humility, no patience, no generosity, no peace, no interior fulfillment, no real confidence, and no real self-control.

Anyone who claims to possess these merely by “talking themselves into it” is lying—to themselves and to you.

Remove their distractions, attention, substances, media, partying, and money. Take them permanently off psychotropic medications. Sit them alone, sober, in silence for three days with nothing to do but be with themselves.

I guarantee they will experience a rude awakening about how emotionally and psychologically low-functioning they truly are.

Even after I stopped feeling depressed and suicidal, I still felt lonely. I avoided being alone or in silence. I remained insecure, fearful of others’ opinions and rejection. I continued to suffer from unresolved childhood trauma and memories of those who had ever treated me badly.

You may say, That’s just your experience. I’m different. This “think it to be it” method will work for me.

Go ahead. Waste another ten years of your life and learn the hard way, as I did. Be as arrogant and stubborn as I was. Spend your money. And come back when you realize nothing has changed inside you—your addictions are the same or worse, you still feel insecure, and you still have no interior peace.

Yes, as long as we are only focused on thinking a positive thought, it is temporarily helpful as a distraction, but notice the key words "temporarily" and "distraction". 

Why does this "think it to be it" method not work?

While we can think about good things whenever we choose, we cannot, by our own intellectual power, permanently remove the negative-bad-false: beliefs, thoughts, wants, desires, expectations, and attractions that already live inside of our intellect. These inner distortions actively interfere with any good-positive-true thoughts we attempt to hold.

At any moment when we are not fully focused on what is good, true, and loving, whatever bad, false or disordered remains inside us will surface and affect us—because we have not yet done what is necessary for those things to be permanently healed.

Permanent healing is not something we control.

We are simply not that powerful—and never will be.

Why?

Because we are not gods who can control reality.

We are not gods who intellectually control Truth, Love, and Virtues (aka positive affirmations).

However, just because we cannot do this with our own power does not mean healing is impossible.

What is bad, false, wounded, or disordered within our thoughts, beliefs, expectations, wants, desires, attractions, likes, dislikes, and emotions is always the absence of Love, Virtues, and Truth.  And Love, Virtues, and Truth do not originate from us, nor from any other human being, therefore we cannot permanently insert any positive affirmations into our intellects.

As heat is the absence of cold and light is the absence of darkness, so too Truth, Love, and Virtues is the absence of bad, false, wounded, and disordered.

Truth, Love, and Virtues have to be constantly given to us by the originator of and He who is Truth, Love, and Virtues Himself. Only He can permanently replace what is bad, false, wounded, and disordered within the intellect of our soul—and we need to learn how to cooperate rightly with Him.

There is no neutral void. What is bad, false, wounded, disordered and unloving has to be replaced with Truth, Love, and Virtues—and only He Who Is Truth, Love, and Virtues can do that.

Just as heat replaces the cold and light replaces the darkness, so too He who is Truth, Love, and Virtue replaces what is bad, false, wounded, and disordered within our intellect of our soul when we are willing to fully reject the bad, false, wounded, and disordered and want Truth, Love, and Virtue instead.

But first we have to want to know and be willing to accept when and how we are wrong—in all the ways—even if we think we are right.

So why are we so easily fooled by the big scam of “think it = be it”?

Because we want to be in control.

We want to be our own all powerful god.

We don’t want to be told what to do.

We want to think we know it all.

We don’t want to accept and admit when we are wrong.

We don’t want to be a loving person unless everyone else is first.

We don’t want to stop doing whatever the hell we want to do.

We do not want to give up our “fun” but destructive coping mechanisms—while convincing ourselves they are benefiting us.

We want everything our way. 

But “our way” is precisely what leads us into our private emotional hell. 

We want to try to avoid all suffering and never accept suffering for even 10 minutes.

But trying to avoid all suffering is making you suffer even more.

You may say, I already believe in God, and I’m still not healed. I’m still anxious, depressed, insecure, or addicted.

It does not matter how Christian or Catholic you think you are or go through the exterior motions. Thinking you know God and thinking you cooperate with Him does not make it reality.

Just as you cannot think yourself into healing, you cannot merely think yourself into cooperation with God.

And No, only asking God, Help me!, while you do nothing different, think you are right about everything, and won't listen to the people He sends you, is not cooperating with God.

God cannot go against yours or another's free will to choose.

What have you done to search for the truth about all the ways you are failing to know Him—and failing to cooperate with Him?

Do you even want to know?

Let me know when you have suffered enough and are ready to stop buying into the big scam.

I’ll be waiting—and praying for you.