The power of positive thinking for good lifestyle
Health & Fitness By KEMI ILORI
Tuesday, August 28, 2007

"Most folks are about as happy as they
make up their minds to be."
Abraham Lincoln

‘Think Positive!" This is a well worn cliché. Many scientific studies have shown that a person's emotional state or attitude may affect his or her physical health. Thinking positive refers to the attitude we have about a given situation, most especially our expectations with regards to that situation. A person with a positive attitude is called an OPTIMIST, while a person with a negative attitude is a PESSIMIST. Some people are selective in their attitudes; optimistic when the situation affects their wellbeing, but pessimistic when other people are at the receiving end.

Powering our thoughts for good health: All of our feelings, beliefs and knowledge are based on our internal thoughts; both conscious and subconscious. We are in control, whether we know it or not. We choose whether to be negative or positive of our own violation. The only other thing is that we are influenced by our experiences with our parents, friends and society in general. Despite these experiences, we have the power to choose a positive attitude towards life. The biggest difference between people is their attitudes.

A good example is how attitude to learning can make a student brilliant or dull. For some, learning is enjoyable and exciting. For others, learning is a difficult, boring and they would rather be out there; doing other things. This fundamental attitude will affect the ability to concentrate and assimilate the knowledge required. These same attitudinal choices affect our health. When we think positively, we tend to have the ability to re-direct our choices towards healthier living. We do not give up on ourselves and accept our situation in a despondent manner. This affects our food, ability to enjoy recreation, sleep, defusing tension, reaction to stress, etc. Let us take a look at how positive thinking affects some of these issues in simple understandable ways.

Sleep: One of the greatest beneficiaries of positive thoughts is sleep. Positive thought is a mental process. A person consciously decides to override a predictable mental response by replacing it with a new thought. The new thought is intended to be their own truth and reflect a positive outlook toward the outcome. When you relax, fill your mind with good thoughts; you are able to relax and drift off to sleep. This is something that I practice. I push all things that have the ability to upset me out of my mind when I want to sleep (especially if I have to make an effort to sleep, like siesta). Instead, I flood my mind with pleasant thoughts, as much as I can summon. I usually don’t even know when I fall asleep. Good sleep is essential for good health, power yours with positive thinking.

Lifestyle Choices: Positive Thought has its own energy just as negative thought has an energy of its own. Positive thoughts give you a "can do" attitude; whilst negative thoughts have a procrastinating effect, making you accept a bad situation in a defeatist way. This can be exemplified by a person tending towards obesity who decides to take action, or a borderline hypertensive who puts his or her energy into reversing the situation for the better. Positive thought affects deliberate life choices to improve our situation. Lifestyle approaches like DASH (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension), require a positive attitude and sustaining power for continued success. The same applies to finding an exercise that suits our busy lifestyle.

Finding a consistent time to exercise also takes commitment. These are classical examples of the power of a positive attitude over a negative one, there is no magic or juju about it. There are usually a million and one reasons not to do something that is beneficial, but exerting. The difference between the person who keeps fit and the one who does not; is making a positive lifestyle habit. Secondly, a deliberate positive decision to enjoy these activities is essential. It may require an effort initially, but becomes learned, accepted and loved by the body. My learning how to swim was a case in point. I had always tried to learn how to swim and then abandoned it after a few trials. When I eventually did, I was so determined that I had my lessons everyday at 6.00am ! Before my ten lessons were up, I was swimming. Most people in my family have a morbid fear of water.

Till today, anytime I suggest to an older cousin to take up swimming, she looks at me as if I just escaped from the zoo! Meanwhile, swimming would help her blood pressure and relieve her arthritis. It was hilarious that I met someone in the swimming pool who had the same experience. He told how a little voice in his head told him that, "what are you trying to prove?". Negative thoughts are very insidious. Thoughts come in the form of conversations we have with ourselves inside our head. It is perfectly normal to have an argument with yourself in your mind over whether to take an action or not. A sentence or two may even escape out in a mumble. It only becomes abnormal when you start soliloquizing aloud, in what may seem like a full scale fight. Then you need to caution yourself that you are stepping over the normality edge (don’t let any particular issue frustrate you that far).

Positive thinking fills you with verve and energises you. It gives you the power to resist the cake with all the frosted trimmings and choose a fruit instead. After a while, the better alternative no longer seems like the bitter alternative. You begin to love water and hate beer, coke, etc. You approach exercise with enthusiasm and enjoyment. Try to focus your energy on positive thinking rather than negative thinking, and look for reasons to feel happy and hopeful every day. If you put your energy toward positive thinking and ways to make your life more enjoyable, you may discover that positive thinking really does help you feel better. Why? Because you have the right perspective to make better choices everyday.