The only way to detect this hideous fraternity is by their common language. If you say "it's a beautiful day," they respond with, "what's good about it?" You mention singing birds. They complain about bird poop. You mention sunshine; they grimly suggest skin cancer. Every word carries the dark force of criticism, fear and complaint. Nothing is sacred. Nothing is cherished. Nothing has value.

They have stubbornly made a decision to think the worst. You can't change that, but you can defend yourself against the onslaught of these malignant thoughts.

It is time to put the brakes on defeatist thinking and alter your mental dialogue. Evaluate what you are thinking. Are your thoughts inspiring, uplifting and encouraging or a stewing cauldron of worry, fear and doubt? Watch your thoughts. (No converter required.) Is your brain signal positive or negative? You will quickly realize how the negative thoughts have a far greater impact than the positive thoughts. If the thoughts you are thinking are negative, it's time to replace them with positive, uplifting, warm, fuzzy, nice thoughts.

It's not easy. You can start out encouraging yourself and end up thinking weird and depressing thoughts. You may think a positive thought like "It's all going to work out." And there is this depressing response saying, "no it's not, my life is falling apart." It is here that the battle is fought. Stop fighting and negativity wins because you have decided to believe it. You have to fight with truth, repeating the uplifting thought until you believe.

The desire for comfort carries us on the path of least resistance. It is the easy way out. Who wants to swim upstream, when we can go with the flow? But the flow is going downhill to end in a stagnant cesspool of fear, worry and obsession. Going with the flow has a pay-off; we are doing something that is easy. And if we don't, we have to face our fear. It is easier to be consumed with worry than to do something constructive. You need to strive against the current of negative thinking, facing its power. It may feel like a raging current but the strength will come. Success is upstream, a place of freedom, joy and hope. It is the place we want to be.

Negative thoughts are hard to fight. They are like that floating pink elephant. The more we try not to think of them, the more they barge into our thinking. The solution is to deflect obsession to become encouraging thoughts. We have to re-channel the energy of obsessive, fear-ridden thoughts toward confidence-building thoughts.

Here are some craving defense thoughts.

Imagine waking up to those thoughts. Imagine your attitude. Would your life be different? Wholeheartedly, I can say, yes, it will. Depression fades, insecurities evaporate, and worry transforms into challenge. Dreams become larger, as if built on new strength, because inside you know you can do it.

Your thoughts define your limits. Think defeat and you're defeated. Think you can't and you won't.

A small child at a circus was amazed to find such huge animals tied to a stake by a small rope tied around one foot. His father smiled and said, "when the elephant was young they placed a chain around its foot. No matter how hard the young elephant struggled, it could not break free. Eventually the elephant gave up trying and a rope replaced the chain." Elephants and humans are the same; they are held in place by thin chords of attachment because they believe that they are unbreakable chains.

Believe you can. Perceive, believe then achieve. Become your own cheerleader. (No pompoms required.) Kindle the fire within. 

Negative thinking gets negative results. If your present brain software isn't working, it's time to lap link your cerebral cortex to the most positive terminal in the universe, download a new program and reboot the system. Warning! Wear rubber boots for insulation; this is going to be one huge blast of positive voltage!