Cheerful
Thoughts Do More Than Cheer You Up -
They Keep You Young!
Cheerful
thoughts are sometimes hard to
come up with when suffering
from depression or anxiety. How to keep your
thoughts cheerful and
upbeat becomes easier and easier with the more you practice....
And
they also help you keep your cortisol levels (stress hormone) down,
which significantly affects how you age.
So let's talk briefly about the main chemical that
ages us and why you want to cheer up and think cheerful thoughts more
often to stay young.
The
“Age Accelerating” Hormone:
Cortisol
Cortisol and
adrenaline work together
to keep us healthy and alert when we need to “run from a
tiger.”
Oh, I guess we don't do that
anymore...
...
But our ancestors did, and cortisol helped save
their lives.
Today, we're continually “running from
tigers” and producing
high amounts of cortisol by
working long work hours (under
artificial lights and re-circulated air) and taking care of elderly
parents and/or raising children (including soccer, cheerleading and a
whole lot more activities than the “cave kiddies”
had to do)...
We're also producing cortisol by
worrying about finances, experiencing
separation and
loneliness and by fighting traffic to get across town. All
of
this plays a significant role in keeping us on “tiger
alert.”
Now you've probably heard all of this before, so I
won't elaborate too
much on the problem, but according to the Mayo
Clinic,
unyielding
levels of cortisol cause many illnesses
such as heart
disease, digestive disorders, obesity, depression, etc., all
of which, cause you to age.
While most of
the talk about high cortisol levels refers to major
diseases, our conversation will be focused on simply keeping cheerful
thoughts...
Because maintaining cheerful
thoughts is how everything starts...
It proliferates happy
thoughts...
Tunes your "set point" to
having positive
thoughts for the day...
And generally teaches
you how
to be happy!
Does this really lead to happiness
and successful
aging?
Yes, because your mind is the central
computer...
Everything starts there...
If
the mind is kept calm, the body stays calm...
On the
other hand, if the mind “sees”
danger, the body follows because we biologically
“see” stress as
danger...
And it all
comes from our thoughts.
Once we calm
ourselves down, our
chemical balance changes
and, yes, we stay thinner and
younger looking because cortisol wreaks havoc with our waists!
(Yes, I meant that literally - cortisol likes putting fat
around
our middles.)
And there's probably a smile
on our face too once we're calm – yet
another youthful component that
combats the corners of
our mouths turning down as we age.
All it takes is a conscious effort to make a
change.
Why?
Because
we can control
our minds,
which control our bodies, which control
our health, which controls our aging process, which is controlled by
the chemicals we run through our systems...
Whew,
was that a
mouthful...
But I think you get the picture.
If you're really into the chemicals and how they
work, go ahead and click
here to go to the electronic
mind control page, which
explains how the different brain
wave levels (i.e., our moods) affect the different neurotransmitters
and other chemicals that keep us young.
Also, if you
want to reduce your cortisol levels, I have some customized
brainwave
meditations on that page that
not only help you reduce
cortisol levels,
but also increse beneficial anti-aging hormones.
So what are
some ways to cheer up and keep cheerful thoughts
prevailing?
Look for
the humor – lighten up. We're not getting out of this
alive... let's make the best of it while we're here.
Just
do it...
Determine
that you're
going to keep
cheerful thoughts in your mind about every situation.
If
your
hormones are going nuts one day – acknowledge them, take a
rest and have some compassion for yourself.
Then
dwell on happy
thoughts...
Keep a picture or post card with you that cheers
you up.
Stop whatever
you're doing and
become
grateful. This
alone will create cheerful thoughts and “cheerful”
chemicals running through your body.
There's
something about having an attitude
of gratitude that is very powerful...
If you're
having a fight, stop and
tell yourself what you appreciate about that person. It
will change
your attitude completely.
If
you're in
traffic and late for an appointment, stop, take a deep breath and start
counting your blessings...
Stressing
about being late won't get you there sooner. But changing
your
vibration to gratitude certainly could help sychronicity move you along
better.
It's your
choice how you choose to
handle the
situation because happiness
is a choice.
There are different kinds of
thoughts to stay cheerful...
I tend to gravitate
toward empowering cheerful thoughts.
Here
are a few examples:
I am calm, confident
and
relaxed.
Happiness is mine right now.
I choose to be happy right now in this moment.
I accept joy and see beauty all around me.
I love myself and deserve to stay calm and happy.
Let me count my successes so far today, 1...
I am lucky to...
I am grateful for....
As I just wrote out each of those
phrases, I felt my
energy shifting and becoming more relaxed (and I was already
calm
before writing them.)
How
do I know my energy shifted?
I sigh after
a change of energy. In fact, many people do.
I
can always tell when my clients have shifted
something inside because they'll have some shift in breathing or a
release through the breath.
And, the good news is...
The more cheerful you become, the more
your body becomes
addicted
to it.
Why?
Because you're putting out chemicals of happy
thoughts and your body gets hooked on them. And, yes, they're the ones
that keep the wrinkles away.
Did you know that the
cellular structure of your skin is derived from the same structure as
your brain?
So,
when your brain's "firing" on all cylinders and producing the right
chemicals to keep it happy, your skin benefits from those same
chemicals - thus looking younger and more beautiful.
Makes
my skin glow just thinking about it!
SUMMARY
So what's
the bottom line here on
ways to cheer up?