How Bad Could a Negative Thought Really Be?

During Yom Kippur, Jewish congregations atone for a litany of communal sins. They range from common ones to ones you rarely hear or think about. One sin, however, always sticks in my mind, because it a misdeed I typically don’t think of as a sin: negative thinking.

Don’t get me wrong. I believe strongly that negative thinking has detrimental effects on our lives and on our outcomes. However, calling it a sin might be a bit over the top. Yet, obviously someone thought otherwise.

Could Negative Thoughts be Sins?

In Judaism, sins aren’t thought of in the way many other religions, such as Christianity, think of them. They are simply “missed marks.” The word for sin in Hebrew, chet, comes from archery and means exactly that: a missed mark.

Therefore, the fact that negative thinking is consider a sin means that when we allow ourselves to have negative thoughts, we actually miss the mark—the target at which we want to aim. We don’t allow our arrow (our thoughts) to hit a bull’s eye (a goal).

Using Thoughts to Hit a Bull’s Eye

Think about that for a minute. If correct deeds involve positive thoughts, then these are necessary to hit targets. When you focus your thoughts in a positive way, you get a bull’s eye—you reach your goal.

Of course, religiously or spiritually speaking, your goals might be set on right action or connection to Something Higher. In general, however, your goals might be set on other, more mundane, things, like career success, finding a life partner, completing a project, or financial prosperity.

If you allow your thoughts to become negative, however, you are less likely to achieve these goals—to hit your target. For example, if you think, “I’m not pretty enough or smart enough to attract my ideal mate,” you will have a harder time doing so. Thus, you miss the mark. Or if your thought is “I never get recognized by my superiors for the work I do,” then you probably won’t get a promotion, a raise or the job title you seek.

Read any personal development, human potential, metaphysical, or psychology book and you’ll find mention of how negative thoughts, or limiting beliefs about yourself, result in negative outcomes. We attract what we believe. Our thoughts have energy and tend to draw to us that which we think about.

Plus, we take action based on these thoughts and beliefs. So, you may not approach a man you want to meet if you have a low self-image based on negative thoughts. You may not come across well in a job interview because you believe we are not worthy or qualified—even if you are.

The Real Sin

Why would this been seen as a sin? Because when you allow your negative thoughts to prevent you from hitting the mark, form achieving your goals or your dreams, you don’t fulfill your potential. You don’t allow yourself to become all you can become in this lifetime.

That’s a sin if ever I heard one. That’s something worth atoning for.

Plus, if you allow your negative thoughts to spiral out of control, dire things can happen. Remember Robin Williams and others you may know or have heard of who have suffered from depression and committed suicide. Or think of those who turn to alcohol or drugs to ease the pain of their negative thinking, get addicted and never live up to their potential or die earlier than necessary.

Again…this, I think, is why in Judaism negative thoughts are considered a sin.

Think about it… Are your negative thoughts preventing you from hitting the mark? What bull’s eyes might you hit if you thought positively instead? How could you live up to your potential if you changed your negative thoughts to positive ones?
Copyright: mike301 / 123RF Stock Photo