There is real evidence that having a positive outlook can have both psychological and biological benefits.
The data comes from an analysis of 15 studies with more than 200,000 participants, so there's real science to back it up. The lead research, Dr. Rozanski, said "In every case, there was a strong relationship between optimism and a lower risk of disease." And less disease means more vitality.
How do you amp up your optimism? Look back with gratitude, look ahead with excitement. Take some time each morning to think about 3 things from the day before that you're happy about. Then think about 3 things for the day that you're looking forward to. And these don't have to be big things. You can be grateful for a great parking spot and look forward to pancakes.
When you focus on the positive, the negative pessimism gets less energy and goes away by itself. Which will leave you with more energy since pessimism "[bathes your body] in damaging stress hormones like cortisol and norepinephrine... Pessimism increases inflammation in the body and fosters metabolic abnormalities like diabetes."
For more, check out this article from The New York Times. |
