Many of us are familiar with the adage “you are what you eat.” Yet, you can eat well and still feel self-doubt, loneliness, fear, while at other times intense joy, confidence and happiness.
by John Murphy, Chair, Prescott Commission on Well-Being
In fact, years of wisdom from those who have lived a happy and healthy life would agree — you are what you think!
To empower mental wellness, you need to create the thinking habits that will guide your day. Your mind has this amazing ability to influence many other areas of your body and life.
The good news is you can harness your inner strength to fuel better, more powerful thinking habits — as with any other habit. It is that simple in concept.
By implementing new thinking habits, or ways of “communicating to yourself,” you can achieve better overall wellness. One important thinking habit is optimism. The Harvard School of Public Health first reported in 2001 that in older men, those with a more optimistic outlook had a lower risk of heart disease. This clear linkage of optimism with a distinct health outcome, like reduced heart disease, is encouraging and a tangible physical benefit.
You have much to gain and little to lose by choosing the habit of optimism — the conscious choice to see life from an empowering standpoint. Another interesting fact is that positive thoughts stimulate the neurotransmitters in your brain, and these in turn enhance your information processing abilities.
So, the habit of optimism can improve how you process all that information you get every day. In today’s world of information overload, this can be a great asset.
To help you make optimism a daily habit, be sure to use simple tools to strengthen this area. One of those tools is called an affirmation — a positive statement that reaffirms a belief you hold as important.
Here are some examples:
“Understand that your past does NOT = the future!”
“Realize it’s not what happens to you, it’s about how you respond to what happens to you”!
The healthiest people learn to channel negative thoughts and replace them with more helpful, optimistic ones.
Remember, your thoughts create your future. If you think you can, you probably will. If you think you can’t, you most likely won’t. Either way, you create your own destiny by your perspective and attitude.