How often have you heard having a “positive” attitude affects your health? Although the connection between health and positivity has not been proven, there definitely is a strong link between the two. Researchers suspect people who are more positive may be better protected against inflammatory damage of stress, while negative emotions can weaken the immune response. Researchers from Johns Hopkins Hospital have found people with family history of heart disease who also had a positive outlook were one-third less likely to have a heart attack or other cardiovascular event within five to 25 years than those with a more negative outlook.
Although it is thought having a positive personality is something we are most likely born with and not something we can inherently change, there are things we can do to improve our outlook in life.
Building resiliency is probably one of the most important ways not to focus on the negative things in our lives. Bad things happen to everyone and everyone copes differently. People lose loved ones, jobs, relationships, or receives bad news about their health. Being resilient is the ability to adapt to stressful situations and remain positive to maintain our health. Some ways experts recommend trying to stay positive in bad situations is to maintain good relationships with family and friends, accept that change is part of life, and taking action on problems instead of hoping they disappear or resolve themselves
Positive thinking is key in stress management and is associated with many health benefits. Positive thinking often starts with self-talk which is the endless stream of unspoken thoughts that run through your head. These automatic thoughts can be positive or negative. Some self-talk comes from logic and reason while other self-talk arises from misconceptions you create because of lack of information or expectations. Positive thinking doesn’t mean you ignore life’s less pleasant situations, it just means that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive and productive way. Think the best is going to happen, not the worst.
Some common forms of negative self-talk include magnifying the negative aspects of a situation and filtering out all of the positive ones, automatically blaming yourself or someone else when something bad happens, making a big deal out of minor problems, automatically thinking the worst without facts that the worse will happen, seeing things only as good or bad, and expecting everything has to be perfect.
If you tend to think negatively, there is hope for you! You can learn to turn negative thinking into positive thinking, but it takes time and practice to develop a new habit. Check yourself periodically during the day and stop and evaluate what you are thinking. If it is negative, stop that thought (imagine a stop sign!) and think of something pleasant. If you think negatively about certain things in your life whether it be your job, or a relationship, focus on one area to approach it is a more positive way. Smile. Be open to humor. Try and find ways to laugh and you will feel less stressed. Live a healthier lifestyle. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day, eat healthy foods, get enough sleep, find ways to reduce stress like yoga, meditation and prayer. Surround yourself with positive people and practice positive self-talk. Be gentle to yourself, rid yourself of negative thoughts, and practice gratitude for the things you are thankful for in your life.
If you tend to have a negative outlook, don’t expect to become an optimist overnight. As your state of mind becomes more optimistic, you will handle everyday stress in a more constructive way and your self-talk will contain less self-criticism and more self-acceptance, which will all help with the health benefits of positive thinking.
References:
- https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/the-power-of-positive-thinking, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Health, The Power of Positive Thinking.
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/positive-thinking, Positive Thinking Stop Negative Self-Talk To Reduce Stress, by Mayo Clinic Staff.