To open this thread I will quote a post from R' BenHashemBH on a different thread, and then ask my question.



"Tanya near the end of perek zayin (6th of Teveis in the daily schedule). 

In English:
Yet the vitality which is in the drops of semen that issued wastefully, even though it has been degraded and incorporated in the three unclean kelipot, nevertheless it can ascend from there by means of true repentance [a lower level than the repentance from love that is needed to transform other sins into merits - see earlier in the perek] and intense kavana during the recital of the Shema at bedtime, as is known from the Arizal and is implied in the Talmudic saying, "He who recites the Shema at bedtime is as if he held a double-edged sword . . .," wherewith to slay the bodies of the extraneous forces that have become garments for the vitality which is in the drops of semen, so that this vitality may ascend, as is known to the students of Kabbalah. "





Now here is my question, assuming I don't talk for myself. 

When I read this post I was thinking, "really? is that really true? does it work for real? I'm sure not everyone agrees" and the like.
And it bothered me. 
Why are we so much quicker to believe and feel the negative things, like the gravity of MZ"L, yet when we hear something positive and comforting we doubt it and have a much harder time internalizing it.

In addition to the draw of negativity of the רוח הבהמה היורדת למטה לארץ, maybe another factor is this - when we do an act out of a strong drive which takes over our whole thought process and focus (for the time being) we feel that "this is me". Because we're bringing more of ourself to the table in doing it. We are fully present for the act, fully focused, with a strong strong will to do it. So we feel that for something to be מתקן the קלקול it must have to have the same involvement of self. So it's hard to hear how doing something which seems to be much more external would fix something which is so 'me'. Like if a person has a severe heart problem r'l and the doctor says no problem just put on this cream on your chest.
And there may even be truth to this feeling, and the tikun does have to have a great deal of presence, I don't know.