Thanks for being a personal growth blogger who discussed both cynicism & junkie-ism. I've seen both myself personally but most personal development people I've found don't discuss this & so, like anything un-discussed, it tends to keep occurring without people being aware of the pitfalls of going too far in either direction.
I've seen this where there was a self-help junkie mother of my cynical & atheistic ex-boyfriend. Both were emotionally rationalizing their positions & it was clear that they both attacked each other's position constantly but the thought never occurred to either that there was a middle ground.
I am glad that you are able to turn the cynics in your life around.. something I've never been able to do