The other day I said, “I was worried that Jane (nearly 95 and frail) might not hold up during your special dinner at the restaurant.”

Immediately I was scolded, “No, no, no. Don’t say that. That is a negative thought. We don’t need negative thoughts. That is bad.”

Whoa on me. I was taken aback. And I felt uncomfortable. I hadn’t meant that I was immersed in worry, sending sure death pulsing into the Universe. I’d had a fleeting thought, perhaps improperly expressed, that my friends’ dinner go well, without being shortchanged by Jane’s needs.

Wondering from whence ca...