I generally agree with you that positive thinking is useful, but doesn't actually create a reality; it's more about how you respond to the reality you are dealt. I once read a book by someone who among other things was into the New Age. She lost a baby shortly after birth, and she wrote all about how she really didn't want the baby and as a result the baby died. I remember thinking, wow, even if there was something to that, I sure don't want that kind of responsibility. Imagine the guilt a mom would feel if she had ambivalent feelings about being pregnant if she believed those thoughts alone could kill her baby!