You woke up late. The dog chewed up your favorite slipper. The coffee pot just went gurgle-gurgle-bzz! Your morning is obviously not off to the best start. How are you going to handle it? You can deal with this situation in a couple of different ways that will offer very different results.
The Power of Positive Thinking
You can stomp your foot and growl at the dog when he slinks into the room. You can rush around to get to work without your coffee and bite off the head of the first unfortunate coworker to cross your path. You can even call in sick, go back to bed, and miss whatever terrible things the world has in store for you next.
These are all perfectly reasonable reactions to the start of a bad day. They probably aren’t going to help your day improve, though. The poor dog is probably going to hide under the couch for a while. Your coworkers are going to steer clear of you too. No work, no problems, right? No pay either.
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
How about this? You overslept. You may be running behind schedule, but you got that much needed extra hour of sleep, and you actually feel rested. Slobbery slippers? You loved those slippers, but you’ve had them for five years. There was almost a hole in the toe cap already. Now you have an excuse to stop and get yourself a new pair after work! No coffee? That’s a little bit harder to swallow (pun intended). Since you have to get out the door anyway, you can grab that glass of water you always mean to drink but never do.
After all of this, you realize that even though the morning started out terrible, the positive steps you took actually made you feel better. That’s the power of positive thinking.
Benefits of Positive Thinking
Study after study these days shows that thinking positive will only bring good things to your life. According to Johns Hopkins, people with a history of heart disease in the family who also had a positive outlook were one-third less likely to have a heart attack. So you can stress that you got your mom’s high blood pressure and put further stress on your heart, or you can be grateful you know the warning signs and lower your risks. The point is, the benefits of a positive outlook on life are measurable by science.
Positive thinking has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety, which add unnecessary strain on your immune system. Keeping your thoughts upbeat boosts endorphins production in your brain, offering a boost to our overall well-being. Most importantly, they make us feel happier. A positive outlook makes any aspect of your life, from health and relationships to work and playtime, a better experience. Furthermore, happy people develop new skills easier, leading to further success, which ultimately brings more happiness, and the circle starts over.
The Glass is Always Half Full
If you take nothing else away from this article, remember this: the way you think affects every single thing in your life. If you look for the worst, you will find it. If you always see the best, your experience will always be the best! Happy thoughts bring about a happy life!
