The Benefits of Positive Thinking
Positive thinking: Almost everyone has heard of it, and most have wondered if it’s something worth trying. People are always saying that there are benefits of positive thinking. But do they have a point?
Believe it or not, positive thinking actually does have a lot of different benefits. Consequently, there are plenty of studies to back this up. Positive thinking really can make a difference in your life, and you’d be surprised at just how much it can do.
It Lowers Stress Levels
Lowered stress levels are just one great benefit of positive thinking. If you are a positive thinker, you will be able to cope with bad situations a lot better. It will be easier to come up with a plan of action when you face a challenge. Lastly, you will be able to really focus on eliminating the issue at hand.
Because positive thinking will leave you more prepared, you will be less stressed over any challenges that occur in your day-to-day life. Being less stressed has a ton of benefits, and overall is really good for your mental and physical health.
It Gives You a Better Outlook on Life
Positive thinking is going to help you in a lot of different situations. It can make challenges seem less challenging, and dull times seem a little less dull. If you are able to take a bad situation and find the good in it, it will make your life a lot easier. Positive thinking will also literally improve your overall quality of life.
Obviously, not every bad situation is going to simply get better if you think positively about it. In fact, most won’t. However, try finding some sort of bright side or telling yourself that you can handle something when you are challenged. This it will help the situation improve, even if just slightly.
It Improves Your Immune System
It may come as a surprise to you that positive thinking can actually have good effects not just on your mind, but on your body as well. There have been hundreds of studies outlining the fact that positivity can improve your immune system function.
In one study done by The University of Queensland, 50 adults were interviewed. These adults also had blood tests done to measure their immunity. The participants were shown a series of negative and positive photos, then asked to recall them later on. It was found that the people who remembered more of the positive photos as opposed to negative had higher immune function than the other participants.
Since these people were remembering more positive images, it was believed that they thought more positively throughout their life in general. This is just one of many studies that shows how positive thinking can affect your physical health.
It Can Increase Your Lifespan
A longer lifespan is a big benefit of positive thinking. The reason that it can increase your lifespan is unclear, but there are plenty of theories. One of these theories is that coping with certain situations becomes easier when you are a positive thinker. Thus, this reduces the toll that stress can take on your body.
Since positive thinking reduces stress and improves your immune function, it makes sense that it will therefore help you live longer. These things will in turn make you healthier. Having good health is one of the main things that will help you live for a long time.
How Do You Incorporate Positive Thinking into Your Life?
If you like the idea of positive thinking but don’t know where to start, this is completely normal. There’s not exactly an obvious way to start incorporating positive thinking into your life. Luckily, there are some things you can do to train your brain to react in a more positive way.
Start by identifying when you have a negative response to something. Examples of negative thoughts include: “This is too challenging”, “I can’t do this”, or “There’s no way this will work”. It’s normal to think things like this every now and then. However, it’s equally as important to notice when this happens if you want to start thinking positively.
When you notice yourself thinking these negative thoughts, try and change your perception to something more optimistic. Instead of saying “I can’t do this”, you can say something like “I can do this, it will just take a little effort”. Practicing optimism when you notice yourself being negative is one of the best ways to imprint positive thinking into your brain. Repeated daily positive exercises will start to incorporate more happiness into your life.
Final Thoughts on the Benefits of Positive Thinking
As you can see, there are plenty of benefits to thinking positively. Though positive thinking isn’t right for every single situation, it’s usually not a bad idea to try and add a little more optimism to this world. It takes some work to train your brain to think positively, but it’s very much worth it in the end.
It’s up to you on whether you want to give positivity a try, but just know that even a little bit can go a long way. Remember also it’s never too late to start!