How many times has someone told you that you need to see the glass as half full or look on the bright side of things? These comments are made by those who have a positive outlook on life, and it’s not always easy to share the optimism of others. However, there are many benefits to positive thinking and the beautiful things it can do for your body.
Twenty Benefits of the Power of Positive Thinking
Every human being has more than 60,000 thoughts daily, which indicates how significant the brain’s capacity is. An article published by TLEX Institute references a study done on positive thinking.
The study found that, on average, about 80 percent of those thoughts were negative. It’s easy to see how that could make you in a terrible mood. Here are 20 benefits to increasing your positive thinking.
1. Improve Your Immunity
The medical community is beginning to understand how the mind has a profound effect on the body. When you have a good attitude and think positive thoughts, then you enhance your immunity. A study was conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and they found that positive thoughts lower stress hormones and trigger the reward-related brain circuits.
2. Increases Your Motivation
When you think of good thoughts, then you will feel good. If the reward centers in your brain are activated, then it will give you a boost. If you talk negatively all the time, then you will feel melancholy. Increase your get-up-and-go by using positivity.
3. Improves Overall Health
Have you ever wondered why some people seem to be the picture of health while others struggle? Could it be that their mindset is optimistic? When you learn to stop dwelling on all the negative things and look for the sunshine after the rain, you will feel better. Now, not every medical problem is caused by negative thinking, but it does have an impact.
4. Beauty From Within Shines to the Outside
Have you ever seen someone that was so radiant on the outside that they were beaming? You’ve, no doubt, crossed paths with someone that knows the power of positive thinking. All your thoughts and feelings on the inside will shine to the outside, and others will take notice.
5. Increase Your Perception and Awareness
When you learn to view the world through optimistic lenses, then you have an enhanced perception and awareness of the things around you. Positive people are the ones who take time to stop and admire the beauty of a rose growing in a garden, or they take a walk in the fresh air on a sunshiny day.
6. Improves Your Self-Confidence
The power of positive thinking will help you to improve your self-confidence. How can you look down on yourself or anyone else when you’re focused on all the good attributes you and others have? It’s kind of hard not to have a good view of your life when you believe you’re loved, surrounded by good friends, and feel that you’re worth something.
7. Handle Stress Better
Stress in life is inevitable; however, your perception will dictate how you respond to stressors. The power of positive thinking can give you the strength and wisdom you need to tackle the inevitable challenges that come your way.
8. Helps Facilitate Better Relationships
Did you know it’s easier to make friends when you are optimistic? Who wants to hang around someone who is always negative and acts downtrodden? You want to spend time with people who lift you, make you smile, and enhance your mood.
9. Resilient in a Crisis
When crises come, some fall to pieces and others step up to the plate and take care of business. Someone who is a positive thinker sees the situation for what it is and strives to have a positive outcome regardless of how bad things may look.
10. Lowers Blood Pressure
When you’re cynical and a stressed mess, it only stands to reason that your blood pressure would increase. Your blood pressure is directly affected by your moods and stress. However, when you keep on the sunny side, it can have a calming effect on your heart, BP, and entire body.
11. Keeps You Mentally Healthy
Mental illness is a significant issue in this country. Anxiety and depression are reaching some of the highest numbers ever. Thankfully, when you are focused on the power of positive thinking, it helps you to be your best mentally. Who has time to deal with anxiety, depression, and other mental issues, anyway?
12. Creates a Better First Impression
When you meet someone for the first time, you always get a first impression. Now, that impression can be good or bad, depending on the person’s demeanor. If they’re negative, then it will undoubtedly shine through. However, someone who is positive, smiling, and optimistic always lights up the room. Who do you want in your inner circle?
13. Improves Heart Health
Staying positive is excellent not only for the brain, but it’s good for the heart too. Positivity is linked with your overall heart wellbeing, and it can reduce the threat of heart disease, regardless of several factors, like smoking, getting older, and being overweight.
14. Brings Peace and Fulfillment
A life full of turmoil is no life at all. If you want to find peace and fulfillment in your time here on earth, you will learn to stay positive. It’s incredible how much better your day can be when you walk with an optimistic mindset.
15. Gives You More Opportunities in Life
You have a job interview, and there is one other applicant besides yourself. You walk in with a smile and seem to radiate from the positive nature that surrounds you. The other candidate hardly smiles and is strictly business.
Since this position involves dealing with the public, who do you think they will hire? When you let the power of positive thinking overtake your life, it will open doors for you that you never thought possible.
16. You Will Age Gracefully
It takes fewer muscles to smile than it does to frown, according to Flip Science. Have you ever seen people that never smile? It’s as if their face is permanently frozen in a scowl.
Ten years from now, you will see lines begin to develop around the corners of their mouth and the center of their forehead. These lines form from holding their face in a familiar position for long periods. If you want to age well on the outside and the inside, you must smile and remain positive.
17. Helps You Deal with Rejection
Rejection is a hard thing for the strongest person to endure. Thankfully, when you look at the positive aspects of any rejection, you can use it as a learning curve. There are many lessons to be learned in life, and a positive nature helps you focus on the constructive things you can learn rather than dwelling on the negative.
18. Draws People to You
Have you ever seen a person that people tend to flock to? They are drawn to their charisma, smiling face, and undeniable charm. Many of those people have so many friends because their positive nature is infectious.
There’s nothing better than surrounding yourself with people who lift your spirits and give you the boost you need to keep going.
19. Improves Your Work Performance
One person is sitting at their desk thinking of all the things that are so bad in their life, while the other worker is humming a pleasant tune, smiling, and enjoying the sunshine outside. Now, which person do you think is going to get more done that day? The power of positivity can give you the drive to do more in less time, and it will put a little spring in your step.
20. Increases Your Lifespan
A study was conducted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health discovered that women who stay optimistic had a reduced rate of premature death. Unlike the negative thinkers, these ladies were less likely to have things like diabetes and hypertension.
Final Thoughts on the Power of Positive Thinking
When you’re optimistic, you view the world around you in a different way. Switching from a negative mindset to a positive one enhances your focus. When something terrible happens, you will not ignore the negative aspects, but you focus on the positive ones. You see the chance for growth and opportunity rather than allowing yourself to sulk in your pity.
When the power of positive thinking overtakes your life, there will be more opportunities to come your way. People who walk in optimism have faith and are at peace, rather than those who live in torment as their negativity chokes the life out of them.
The many health benefits of a positive attitude cannot be denied. When you live a positive life, it can reduce medical problems and allow you to have better mental health.