There is one aspect of your health that isn’t regulated by insurance. It doesn’t require any paperwork and there is no deductible. In fact, it’s free. People have been touting the benefits of this particular health regimen for years, and extensive medical studies have validated the positive effect it has on a person’s overall health and healing. So what is this wonder drug? It’s an optimistic mindset fueled by positive thinking… and it really does make a difference for your health.

It’s no secret that stress and anxiety, and their negative ways of thinking, take a toll on a person’s health. Negative thoughts are closely linked to a whole host of personal health problems including hypertension, gastrointestinal disorders, depression, cardiovascular disease, chronic headaches, and an increased risk for infection. In fact, in Dr. Ryan's experience as a heart surgeon, when patients were depressed or had a negative attitude, they had more complications after surgery and did not recover as well.

So, if negative thoughts impact a person’s health for the worse…it seems logical then, that a positive attitude would have the opposite effect. The reality is that your mind has more control over your health than you realize. Medical studies agree. In one study by Johns Hopkins University, researchers verified that, in a group of people with a family history of cardiovascular disease, those with a positive mental attitude were 33% less likely to suffer a heart attack or other heart-related disease than their more negative counterparts. So how can you exercise control over your attitude to get these health benefits?

Choose your thoughts.

Remember that you have control over your thoughts. Too many of us allow our thoughts to run, unfiltered and unexamined, through our mind. It’s time to take back control of our MOS, our mental operating system. Like a computer, if our brain is wired for negativity, it’s probably time to reprogram the system. Pay attention to yourself and notice when you have a tendency to respond negatively. Take control of your thoughts and consciously choose a more positive response. Like learning a new habit, selecting a positive thought over a negative one takes  practice. Over time, it gets easier as a new way of thinking begins to normalize. So how do you get started? Here’s a list of positive words that can help you think differently about any situation.  Use this list to get started, and then work on creating your own. There is always a positive interpretation, even the most unpleasant situations, you just have to find it. Find it, focus on it, and use those positive words instead. 

Think it, say it, write it.

Consciously find the positive aspects of your circumstances: find hope, be grateful, appreciate, choose calm, compliment someone, etc. The good is there, waiting to be discovered. Once you find it, no matter how big or small, say it out loud to yourself or to someone else. Giving voice to it validates it and makes it more real. Then, go a step further and write it down. Keep a daily journal of good things that have happened, no matter how small - this makes positivity come to life. Review your journal each week and each month to remind yourself what good things have happened. Challenge yourself to find multiple positive ways to look at the situations you encounter, and practice using positive words. 

Practicing positive thinking does not mean that you pretend everything is always great. Most things in life are just hard. However, those who approach life’s difficulties with a determined effort to stay hopeful and find the positive are happier in spite of their circumstances, healthier because of the affect it has on their body and generally better equipped to deal with life’s hardships. What happens to you may not always be your choice. How you respond to it and think it about it is. Choose wisely.