The Secret to Positive Thinking by Lisa Roy - HTML preview

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Chapter 7 – The Health Benefits Of Positive Thinking

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“A healthy attitude is contagious but don't wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier.” -Tom Stoppard

Positive people often lead healthy lives – they don’t dwell on the negatives. Instead, they look beyond the negativity and focus on the positive side of things. If they don’t see the light right away, then don’t lose hope – they know it’s just right around the corner. Their optimism is contagious, and they simply don’t know how to give up.

If you’ve spent a significant amount of time with people who think positively all the time, then you know they live a different lifestyle from negative-thinking individuals.

For instance, positive thinkers would be less likely to engage in self-destructive behavior. They have the discipline to keep themselves from harming their bodies because if they do that, they won’t succeed in their dreams.

Positive people are always looking forward to the future. They are not going to compromise their success by getting drunk every time something goes terribly wrong. They aren’t going to wallow in disappointment. No, that’s something negative thinkers do.

Positive thinking is more than just a mental thing – it encompasses your whole being and affects not just you, but the people around you too. In this chapter, you’re going to learn about the health benefits of keeping a positive attitude. Here’s a few of them:

1. Better immunity against heart disease

Everyone gets stressed out from time to time – even the most positive of people. However, it’s the negative thinkers who find it hard to move on from all the negativity. They let stress get to them, they let it affect their minds and their bodies. When you’re always anxious, your heart gets to work doubly hard.

The good news is that by adding more positivity into your life, you can ease the pressure on your heart, and you can help reduce the risk of suffering strokes and heart attacks! When you have good thoughts, you’re more motivated to eat healthy food and exercise more regularly. All these contribute to better immunity against heart disease!

2. Better resistance to depression

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Depression is a serious condition. If left untreated, it can drive an individual to commit self-destructive behavior. In some cases, depression leads to suicidal thoughts and yes, even suicide.

People who feel depressed generally feel like they have no one else to turn to. Their minds are consumed with negativity, and it pervades their thoughts, emotions, behavior and overall physical health.

Positive thinkers, on the other hand, are better equipped to resist depression. They are able to deal with problems in a more positive manner. Yes, they may feel down or even depressed for a bit, but their positive nature will always get them out of a rut.

They’ll actively look for the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. They’re not going to stay in the dark tunnel, too afraid to move and too intimidated to ask for help.

3. Helps delay the effects of aging

When you are a positive thinker, you understand the importance of having a healthy body, and you do whatever it takes to make sure you stay healthy. You eat all the right kinds of food, you stay away from junk. You exercise regularly, but at the same time, you take great care not to hurt your body from too much exercise.

With a healthy diet and exercise, your skin will inevitably look healthy, too. Having healthy skin also makes you look younger which is ultimately great for your self-esteem!

It’s natural for older people to experience a significant decline in mobility and functioning ability. However, research has shown that negative thinking seniors aged 60 and above were more likely to have mobility and functional problems. This basically means that positive thinking seniors experience a delay in the effects of aging!

4. Better coping skills when stressed out

Can you imagine a life without stress? Without any problems?

No? I didn’t think so, too. Since time immemorial, humans have been suffering from different challenges and difficulties.

Even in this day and age where technology admittedly makes life easier than ever before, there’s still no getting away from the never-ending parade of headache-inducing problems.

With that said, negative thinkers would be more prone to feeling sorry for themselves. With every challenge – and every failure - that comes their way, they’d be more likely to sink deeper into the hole they’ve dug for themselves. They’ll be hard-pressed to find a way out.

Positive thinkers, on the other hand, are much better at coping with stress. Problems? They’d look for a solution to the problem. They’d look at other ways they can approach a particular task so they can succeed. They’re going to fight back. They won’t let the darkness and negativity take over their minds.

5. Increased life span

Positive people are some of the happiest people in the world. The world is far from being perfect, but they certainly know how to live their lives. Even in the face of crippling challenges, they don’t give up. Rather, they look for ways they can turn a negative and unhappy situation into a positive one.

With positive thinking, you get better resistance and immunity against the common cold and even cardiovascular disease. You don’t let yourself get affected by too much stress. You know exactly how to take care of your body. You get rid of negative and self-destructive habits and pick up positive habits along the way. Ultimately, all these lead to an increased lifespan for positive thinking individuals!