An essential part of living a healthy life

I read the short article below the other day and thought it needed to be shared. I strongly believe that a positive mental attitude (PMA) and positive self-feedback (PSF) are important aspects of anyone’s health. I have seen and experienced how being positive can make a difference in how you feel and how you look forward to the day ahead. Yes, it is easy to become frustrated, angry, depressed and anxious especially when you are dealing with an incurable progressive disorder, but that doesn’t mean we have to wander through life feeling that way.

For example, it seems that when you are down and tell yourself how tired (or weak, or sick, or bummed out) you are, the rest of the day goes downhill. And, anything else that goes wrong you attribute to how you felt earlier ... just a continuation of a bad day. At times like this it is easy to begin a negative dialogue (I should have stayed in bed, why did I ever start this anyway, I think I’ll just sit here and do nothing). How do you feel after that? Worse, right?

Positive Affirmations Work

On the other hand, if you are down and begin feeding yourself some positive affirmations (I am feeling better already, I’ll feel better after breakfast, I can’t wait to start XXX, after I exercise I know I will feel better, etc.), it always amazes me how your outlook changes. Also, if you engage in some productive work to take your mind off how you are feeling, you often start feeling better.

I like the comment below that “thinking positively is exercise for the mind.” My brother, who also has Kennedy’s Disease, is twelve years older than me. I swear you will not meet a more positive person. Even if things are going poorly, he always seems to look on the bright side and usually ends up saying something like, “It could be a lot worse.”

I need a laugh
From my personal experience, if I am feeling down (or sick), I watch “Blazing Saddles” or “Young Frankenstein”. It is amazing how laughing for a couple of hours changes my outlook on life.

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How Positive Thinking Keeps You Healthy

Orion Jones - BigThink

What's the Latest Development?

It is no coincidence that you feel more energetic and relaxed when you are thinking positively, or that you feel lazy and tired if you are thinking negatively. Hormones secreted by the body, which are then carried into the blood stream, greatly affect how we feel. The sensations of impatience and pressure which accompany anger are caused by stress hormones like cortisol and norepinephrine. And it is the brain which controls the release of such hormones, influencing heart rate, blood pressure and breathing patterns.

What's the Big Idea?

Thinking positively is exercise for the mind. Even though it may not come easily, it remains an essential part of living a healthy life. In anecdotal cases, some medical patients have beaten odds stacked highly against them by refusing to believe a negative prognosis, instead surrounding them with family, friends and comedy films. Norman Cousins, former editor of theSunday Review, was one such case. He outlived his doctor's expectations by 26 years after being diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a painful and degenerative spine disease.