The strangest and most fantastic fact about negative emotions is that people actually worship them. Although you may have another word to describe the phenomenon, allow me to call this spring of negative thinking unworthiness. Other words for it are insecurity, undeservingness, and low self-esteem. Unworthiness undermines all our positive ideas and validates all our negative thoughts. I told you so.
Some people cover their unworthiness with a self-confidence and bravado bordering on arrogance.
They think the unworthiness is real, not just an illusion, and they respond by concealing it rather than laughing at it. All the negative stuff has just been layered on top of our essential core of goodness. The childhood shows the man, As morning shows the day. A look at how children are raised might offer a clue. An adult, usually a parent, is nearby.