Negativity is the most powerful thought magnet in the universe.  Think one negative thought, and automatically a multitude of negative thoughts flash into your mind to reinforce the negation that initiated the whole process.  One negative thought amplifies itself hundreds of times. 

In the practice of medicine, one of the most formidable challenges is detecting and treating infectious disease before it gets out of control.  When bacteria invade tissue, at first you don’t know they are there; they silently proliferate in the tissues.  In this growth phase, the bacteria prepare for a massive invasion; the bacteria silently multiply in a pseudo quiescent state.  Each bacterial division results in two bacteria.  When those two divide, you have four.  A few organisms proliferate into millions in twenty-four hours.  If you treat an infection when you have hundreds or thousands of bacteria, instead of millions, you have a better chance of preventing or curing serious infection.

When bacteria gain access to the interior of the eye, there is a grace period of hours to several days before an infection is clinically apparent and the patient becomes symptomatic.  If the infection is treated early, the eye is often saved.  If the infection is neglected, the eye is lost.  Early treatment is the only way to prevent the night of blindness from extinguishing vision in the eye.

The mind is equally susceptible to infection from negative thinking.  When a negative thought enters your mind, there is an apparent dormant phase in which the negative thought silently multiplies in preparation for a massive assault.  If you kill that thought before it proliferates, you maintain a positive mind and continue to move in the direction of your dreams.  If you permit that thought to take up residence and multiply, the exponential growth of negative thoughts begins.  Each negative thought multiplies until a cascade of negativity rushes through your mind.  In a matter of minutes to hours, negative thoughts overwhelm your mind.

That’s why you must have zero tolerance to negative thinking.  The battle against negative thoughts is easily won if you deal with them when there are only one or two of them.  If you tolerate their presence for even a few minutes, suddenly an army of negative thoughts is on the march.  A minor skirmish is now a major battle, and your life is on hold while you struggle to win this unnecessary battle.  You are fighting a battle that should never have been fought. 

You must extinguish negativity when it appears.  Sniff it out when it’s small, snuff it out when it’s weak and vulnerable.  There is no simpler or more effective way to deal with negative thoughts.  Don’t tolerate them, and they will never cause problems.

Negative thoughts have a life of their own.  Unrestricted negative thinking proliferates and overwhelms your mind.  This negative infection destroys inner vision.  It results in inner blindness and makes it impossible to see opportunity even when it’s right in front of your eyes.

Negativity is like inserting a destructive computer virus into your mind.  The negative virus overwhelms and destroys the positive programming and positive inputs you worked so hard to install.  If you insert one negative thought into your mind at a strategic moment of the morning, you can spoil your entire day.

A negative thought is a gift that keeps on giving in spite of your desire for it to go away.  Treat negative thoughts as you would treat radioactive or toxic waste.  Stay away from them because they relentlessly sabotage your life.

Become proactive and monitor your thoughts.  Extinguish negativity as soon as you discover it.  The fire of negative thought is easily extinguished when the fire is small, but if it gets out of control, it will consume your dreams.

Excerpt from :

Zero Tolerance To Negative Thinking : Good-by Depression - Hello Positive Mind

David J Abbott M.D.