Benefits
of a positive attitude are talked about a lot, but today's research
shows evidence that having a positive attitude has dramatic effects...
In
fact, there's so much positive attitude information that I
want to give you, I'm not sure where to start...
Okay,
let's start with the more unusual (and more fun) benefits of a positive
attitude with the "scientific" stuff woven in...
The
benefits that are not discussed very much are:
More Creativity
"Camaraderie"
with Yourself
Mind/body Connection
Successful
Aging
Benefits
of a Positive Attitude
MORE CREATIVITY
This
is one of the best benefits of having a positive attitude that I know...
Because when you're
"free of
worry," you're "free to expand."
Let me
explain...
Let's
look at your mind like a room in a house. Now let's say that
this
"room" is filled with furniture (worry) and that this furniture is too
big for the room...
In fact, there's only enough
room left to squeeze by the furniture to get through the room.
Okay,
so what happens to a room when there's too much furniture in it?
That's
right...
Nothing!
There's no room
for anything good to happen.
Instead, doesn't the
room get stale...
Moldy...
Uninviting?
And
then doesn't the rest of the house start getting cluttered as well?
Like
that room's "energy" starts pervading throughout the house?
Well,
your mind is the same way. If it's so full of worry, anxiety,
and "have to dos," etc., where's the room for new positive thoughts?
There's
a Zen theory that you have to empty the vessel before it can become
full. This is true in this case...
How do
you empty
your mind when it wants to stay busy?
Laugh!
You
heard me...
Laugh!
Studies show
that when you're laughing, you're too busy to "think."
In
fact, I found research information that discussed "laughter yoga" where
you artificially induce a state of laughter...
It
cracked me up!
In fact, laughter yoga sprang up from
all the research about the great benefits of laughter...
Part
of which is the fact that your mind can only concentrate on one thing
at a time...
So if you're laughing, you're too busy
to accumulate furniture (worry)...
Which helps you
shift the furniture...
Move it out...
Replace
it with smaller, "just the right size" furniture that makes the room
engaging and attractive.
Makes you want to...
Hang
new curtains...
Put a vase of flowers by the
window...
Have a cuddly throw rug on the floor...
No,
this isn't a home decorating site.
My
point is that once you find a way (like laughter) to move out the old
furniture (worry), then you have "open space" to be creative (like hang
new
curtains, etc.) and receive beautiful new positive thoughts,
which inspire new
hope, and make room for even more good thoughts...
Making
it attractive for creativity to come in and "sit a spell."
"So
this all sounds fine and dandy, Suzanne" I hear you say, "But, how can
I go around laughing all the time? People will think I'm
nuts."
True, but you'd probably inspire
some of them to lighten up as well!
My point is that
now you know how beneficial laughter is [and that it is one of
the best benefits of a positive attitude], maybe you'll find
opportunities to laugh...
And would having a
positive attitude help you laugh more?
Benefits
of a Positive Attitude
"CAMARADERIE" WITH YOURSELF
When
you have a positive attitude, more people want to be around you...
Including
yourself!
One
of the benefits of a positive attitude that just naturally occurs is
that you become more confident, which inspires better self esteem...
Which
inspires a better internal relationship with yourself...
Which
makes you start believing
in yourself more!
You're not "getting in
your own way anymore" and are happy to spend time with yourself...
Which
helps alleviate loneliness - on two levels:
You
like being with yourself, so your time spent alone is fun;
You're
more attractive to others, so you're probably not alone as much!
It's
a wonderful, self-replicating cycle!
Studies show
that people who feel alone are more prone to depression, sadness and
other similar feelings.
So take yourself out for a
walk...
Enjoy your time with yourself...
And
laugh...
[Be
sure you're walking someplace where no one can hear you - or they
wouldn't care - so you don't end up in in the "Loony Bin!"]
Benefits
of a Positive Attitude
Mind/Body Connection
Having
a positive attitude significantly impacts how well your body functions.
Both on a health/immune function and a cellular/emotional
function.
On
a health/immune level:
According to a
study published in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, negative brain
activity is linked with a weakened immune system....
And
the American Heart Association links anger and depression to heart
disease and has found it necessary to advise heart attack victims to
avoid depression
because it could slow their recovery, as well as increase their future
risk of heart problems.
So
the American Heart Association is telling us to "lighten up"
or our hearts are going to malfunction? That's a pretty good
correlation between how your mind affects your body...
And
why one of the health-related benefits of a positive attitude is that
it keeps your heart healthy...
On a
cellular/emotional level:
There's
one more interesting facet to the mind/body connection and that
is that we physically become addicted
to our thoughts...
On a cellular, chemical level...
Which
makes us, in a sense, "addicts of our emotions."
What's
good (and bad) about this, is that when you habitually have a positive
attitude, you become addicted to that positive attitude...
When
you habitually have a bad attitude, you become addicted to that bad
attitude.
And your body does its best to "hold onto
that furniture!"
Keep it right where it is!
And
even tries to push more furniture into the already overcrowded room.
According
to the AARP
(American Association of Retired Persons) increased longevity can be
linked to reduced stress and uses the example of the people who inhabit
the remote island of IKARIA (or ICARIA) which lies at the very southern
tip of the Aegean group of Greek islands.
The AARP
study showed
that the people on that island have "developed a distinctive outlook on
life, including relentless optimism."
And that they
typically live well into their 90s...
Makes you want
to move to Greece!
But we can also do a lot of the
same things they do...
Like sequestering ourselves
from media and outside pressures...
Looking at life
more positively...
And "partying" more often (the
islanders apparently party a lot - which probably includes...
Laughing!
By
the way, the Ikarians also drink lots of goat's milk, so if you do the
"goat thing" instead of "the cow thing" you're also on your way to
successful
aging [Note: I suspect their milk would be raw, which
is better.]
Using electronic
mind
control
to put yourself into a deep Delta state of mind is a great way to
release anti-aging hormones at the "touch of a button?"
Benefits
of a Positive Attitude
Other Benefits
Other
benefits of a positive attitude include:
Fewer physical
or
emotional health problems, which interfere with work or daily
activities
More
energy
Increased goal achievement and
more
success
Increased happiness and overall feeling
of
well being
Greater
inner strength and power
More Hope
More
motivate to inspire
yourself and others
More resiliency
when facing difficulties
Greater self
respect
A positive
attitude helps you focus all of your energy on
solving the problem, instead of focusing on the problem.
You have
the confidence to fight adversaries and stay calm in the process.
With a positive attitude, you have the
tenacity to see problems as
challenges - not as obstacles.
You can enjoy the
true beauty of life if you look at it with a positive attitude and
become more energetic and enthusiastic...
And it
continues to spiral up...
Getting better and better
all the time!
And
your first step to starting the upward spiral is:
When you find yourself
thinking negatively about
anything, quickly turn it into a positive and repeat that new thought
ten
times...
Why?
Because it takes 10
positive thoughts to cancel out one negative
thought...
In the beginning.
Later,
just the opposite will be true.
An easier way to
start changing
your attitude to becoming more positive is to use
electronic
mind control
to induce a state of mind that instantly gives you better focus, memory
and overall a lasting state of well-being. Read more...
These
are just a few of the benefits of a positive attitude.
The longer you practice positive thinking, the more
of the benefits of a positive attitude
you'll find!
This positive
attitude
information is just one of other positive attitude articles:
What is
Attitude? Why
is it Important?
What
is attitude? You can choose your attitude, change your attitude, or
ignore your attitude, but first let's talk about what defines one...