As the famous American industrialist and businessman Henry Ford once said: "Whether you think you can, or you can't, you are usually right" ( qtd . in BrainyQuote), but controversy has recently emerged as to the truth of that statement. The vast majority of Americans would agree that positive thinking is the key to success and happiness. However, some researchers now say that positive thinking can actually have a negative effect on a person's life. Optimism was long believed to be good, but new research is starting to bring the negative aspects of positive thinking to light. Optimism has always been seen as a positive trait, but now people realize that it can sometimes be as harmful as it is helpful. Positive thinking is often used by therapists to help their patients overcome anxiety, particularly through the use of positive affirmations (e.g., “I am strong,” “I can,” “It is possible,” etc.). The idea is that when a person constantly has negative thoughts (e.g. “I can't do this,” “It's hopeless,” “I'm worthless,” etc.) those thoughts sink into their subconscious and their brain begins to recognize them. as truth and therefore causes anxiety; so when a person replaces those negative thoughts with positive ones, whether they believe it or not, the positive thoughts will become ingrained in their subconscious and seen as truth and can help ease their anxiety back to a more normal level. there are some people who take positive thinking and turn it into an obsession. They will not be content with simply doing their best to think positively and will have an unhealthy hatred of negative thoughts. They can concentrate so much that they are always positive in the... center of the card... across it. While positive thinking isn't all bad, it shouldn't be seen as all-powerful either. How a person implements positive thinking into their life largely determines whether or not it will be the key to success. Works Cited Becker-Phelps, Leslie. “The Power of Positive Thinking Revisited.” Psychology today. Sussex Directories, Inc., January 23, 2012. Web. March 21, 2012. .BrainyQuote. BookRags Media Network. Network. March 22, 2012. .Rao, Srikumar. "Why positive thinking is bad." Psychology today. Sussex Directories, Inc., April 7, 2010. Web. March 21. 2012. .